Legends of The In Space Rangers
by Alacrita
Summary: The rangers are facing a new threat in trying to find Zordon and Astronema has plans of her own to conquer earth
1. In The Beginning

Prologue: In The Beginning

It had been two months since his first encounter with the earth rangers, who were now living on his ship being nothing but friendly to him.

Especially Ashley, whose spirit always seemed to have a presence that could lift up anyone around her. His own friendliness though was lost in the hurt that had plagued him ever since his family and friend had abandoned him just 2 years ago.

His sister had been kidnapped when he was only 6. While they were playing in the park they had lost control of their telekinesis ball. Andros went to retrieve it but he came back only to find his sister gone. The last memory he had of her would be the screams of his name forever to be remembered in his nightmares.

After the tragic event he was later given the grave responsibility to protect their planet. He and his sister both were destined to become the Red and Yellow Astro Rangers but when she was taken he had to under go the task alone.

The Red Astro morpher was claimed to be his at an early age of 7, and because his duties had consumed his life it striped him of a childhood making it just as easy to push the pain he felt of losing his sister to the back of his mind.

Another boy, Zhane also at the age of seven had been given the challenge of becoming the Silver ranger. He was very special to Andros being the first one to break through his shields and help him through his hard struggles.

They were inseparable, both only knowing each other little after they had become rangers. Through their time together the boys became so close in their friendship that they could speak telepathically with each other.

Even though it could be done on their planet it was still a rare gift that could only be brought about by a very close bond. His sister also had that talent with him but their link had been broken when she was taken away.

No one could explain the friendship that the two boys shared from their completely different personalities. The Silver ranger was more of the troublesome kind, carefree and always sociable. The other boy was more introverted in a way and withdrawn, but very stubborn and strong-minded.

The morphers that had been given to them had never meant to be used until they were deemed old enough, but the forces of evil claimed KO-35 to be their next planet to take over when they became teenagers. They had both trained together relentlessly before then and when the forces of evil came they were ready.

It wasn't until they reached the age of being five years into their adolescence that Dark Specter himself, the monarch of evil, came and fought on their home planet; KO-35 was now fighting for its survival.

It was a long and grueling fight and as good as they thought their efforts were they weren't enough. It was finally coming to the end when Andros had fallen from being attacked by one of their many rivals, but his friend seeing the danger, took the final strike from the enemy and fell.

After the forces of KO-35 had finally retreated Andros felt that there might still be a chance to save his friend's life. So he took his body and cryogenically froze him to try and keep him alive, only to also find out that both his and his friend's parents had been killed trying to defend themselves. When he found them, their bodies had been so mangled from the slaughter that they were hardly recognizable. Andros knew that he would not be able to save them.

Abandoned by friends and orphaned from his parents Andros was forced to live alone. Being a Power Ranger was his only escape letting him easily isolated himself further into his duties. He was no longer living, only a presence that existed to do what he was told. The only thing that kept Andros going was the hope of seeing his friend again.

He owned a spacecraft known as the Astro Mega ship, he had lived there with his friend for years before he was placed in cryogenic status, but now 2 years later he was appointed to a new mission, to save Zordon that had been captured from Eltar.

While searching for Zordon he continued his quest for his lost sister, but his hope was turning into despair the longer it continued.

It was at the beginning of his assignment when Andros had run into four earth rangers who were also in search of Zordon. With the help of DECA, the Mega Ship's onboard computer, they somehow were able to convince him to work as one.

The teenagers that he was now associated with were only willing to fully extend their friendship that they shared with each other to him. He couldn't accept it though, to get close to another person and find out that they would abandon him in the end, however unintentional it would be, would destroy him.


	2. Trust Your Teammates

Trust you're Teammates

He sat near a consol alone as he checked the scanning systems on the bridge. His thoughts wandered back and forth between what he was doing and the occurrences of what happened today. The attacks were becoming more and more frequent on earth and he was interested to see what Astronema could be up to.

"Andros?" Startled he turned his chair around to face the bridge door. Ashley stood there with a bright smile on her face. Clad in her Mega Ship uniform she leaned against the outer frame of the door having her light brown hair spill across her shoulders.

He wasn't up for being around the other rangers at the moment. It had already been a trying day after Astronema had attacked earth, and he needed to spend a few hours on the Symudeck to keep up with his simulation training as well as finishing up with some of the Mega ship's modifications.

"Hey, do you want to come down to earth and go to the movie theater with us?" She had sincerity and hopefulness in her voice. Part of him wanted to go with them but the other part couldn't imagine going back down to earth. Their friendliness toward him was genial but at times overwhelming. "I have a lot of work to do."

"Oh come on Andros it'll be fun, then when we get back we can finish up what we need to do on the Mega Ship together." She said this without hesitation seeming to know what his response to her first question would be, but he just turned his chair back around, and continued working on what he was doing.

"I don't have time Ashley." He stated this more firmly so that maybe she would take the hint and go away to leave him alone, but in fact she did the complete opposite and sat down next to him.

"Come on Andros it'll be good for you, you need to get out and relax." He was almost glad that he was staring at the consol in front of him because the look on her face would probably have been more than enough to convince him.

"No, you guys go ahead without me." After a while she finally stood up and put her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He tensed at her touch but deliberately did not turn to look at her.

"Well if you change your mind you can always come down and join us." He noticed as she walked out of the room that she had a slight tone of disappointment in her voice, one that wasn't obvious but if listening carefully it could be easily identified. Taking in the silence of the room he stared back down at his consol and got back to work.

NEW POV

"Now _that_ was a good movie." TJ said walking out of the theater with Cassie by his side and Carlos and Ashley trailing right behind. As they walked away from the theater Cassie turned her head to look at him with a grin on her Asian face. He smiled at her already knowing the answer to the question he was about to ask her.

"Alright let me hear it, you liked it,"

"Yeah, yeah I liked it." He knew that she would; they had been good friends for a while now. When the first met he figured that she was about the same age as him somewhere around 14, 15 just about to enter her freshmen year of high school. She had been sitting next to him on the bus, and they started a talking finding out that they both wanted something more than what they had been given in their current situations. Her reasons though were quite different than his, as he later found out. At the time she simply declared that she wanted to get away from her parents and seeming that they hadn't called after her she had no reason not to stay in Angel Grove.

He, on the other hand, had decided that he wanted to live with his dad so that he could join the Angel Grove high baseball team. They were considered to be the best high school team in the state of California. But Angle Grove turned out to give them more than what they bargained for, when they became rangers everything changed. School was getting harder to keep up with and being on the baseball team was another thing he had to consider. He was actually almost glad that it only lasted three months out of the school year rather than all year around, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep up with all his other responsibilities.

Another thing that he had to deal with was lying to his father. He hated doing it but the consequences of his family finding out could put them in a danger that he didn't want them to have to deal with, so if that meant lying to protect them than so be it. Though he had to admit he was very fortunate that he at least had a home, Cassie's situation had gotten very complicated during her first year at high school. Since she wasn't living with her parents she had been jumping from one relative to the next.

If she planned to move again he intended to put a stop to it and offer her a room in his house, but when her sophomore year came around she seemed to have settled down. He had never really been to the house that she was currently staying at but she said that she was with another one of her aunts who was taking good care of her.

Then just before their second year of high school had even been able to finish everything turned around for the whole team and they were _all _forced to leave their homes. It was a huge turning point and with it came an unavoidable problem. He had that memory kept in vivid detail, in fact he remembered specifically that if he didn't tell his father where he was for the last few days, while he was in space, then he wouldn't be able to play baseball and would be sent back to live with his mother.

What else could he do? If he was sent back then being a ranger would have become even more complication than it already was. Plus he knew that his sudden disappearances would last longer than a few days now that they were commuting back and forth at their headquarters from space to earth. So he told his father.

"Cassie," Carlos said giving her and nudge forward. "How long have you known TJ?" It was then that he felt her eyes on him and he turned to look at her curiously. "Trust your teammates." Cassie just giggled looking back at Carlos.

"The moment I started trusting TJ was the moment I became the Pink Ranger."

"Hey, and I bet that you don't regret any second of it." She didn't answer right away but the smile on her face was more than reassuring.

"Yeah, your right, anyway who's up for something to eat?"

"Oh count me in, I'm starving." Carlos announced as he put his hand over his stomach.

"I'm game." TJ replied, just figuring out that he actually _was_ hungry, he had been so caught up with his own thoughts about him and Cassie that he didn't even think to check the time before they left the movie theater.

"What about you Ash?" Cassie asked taking him out of his thoughts. He turned to look back at their fellow ranger, almost forgetting that she was there. Which was extremely unusual, rarely did he ever see her without some sort of cheerfulness or buoyancy in her presence.

"Yeah that sounds good." Her tone sounded far off and distant, meaning that she was probably concentrating on something else entirely. He glanced at Cassie to see if she had noticed. When she acknowledged him she turned to look back at her.

"Hey Ash is everything alright? You seem kind of quiet." Ashley looked up at her with a small smile on her face leaving no hit of her dismay before.

"No everything's fine." She waved her hand to dismiss her friends worry. "I was just thinking about Andros." He saw Cassie roll her eyes and smile. Catching her expression he chuckled. Everyone knew that Ashley had fallen for the mysterious red ranger the moment she had seen him. So it was pretty obvious that she was a little disappointed he hadn't come with them to the movie theater. Though he remembered their first outing together had been very interesting, given that Andros ended up telekinetically putting hot sauce into someone else's drink and making quite a scene; but he had to admit, it wasn't like the other boy didn't deserve it.

"That's not what I meant." Ashley said with some exasperation in her tone. "I guess I was just thinking about how weird it is not to have the whole team doing everything together. We've known him for what almost two months now and we still don't know him any better than when we first met him." TJ thought about that. She was right they really didn't know anything about their team leader, and what they did know they found out through experience or other sources.

"He _has_ a sister." Carlos protested.

"Yeah and exactly how did we find out about that anyway? I'm pretty sure that you didn't just go up and ask him yourself, Carlos." Ashley said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "What! It was an accident." He said defensively.

"Well he wasn't too happy when we found out about it that's for sure." Cassie put in. "But hey, why don't you try calling him again, maybe he's changed his mind." Startled TJ turned his gaze to look straight at Cassie. He knew it was worth a try but Andros rarely changed his mind about things like these and from the way Ashley was glaring at her he could tell she didn't approve of it either.

"Yeah and risk his wrath? I don't think so." Cassie gave her a bemused look.

"Ash…he's not going to chew you out if you ask him a simple question." That earned Cassie another look from Ashley, but this time it held utter shock.

"Maybe not to _you, _don't you ever notice how annoyed with me he is all the time? I can't even ask him a simple question without getting him to look at me as if I was the lowest creature on the earth. I can't do anything right around him." It was true; as much as Andros criticized the whole team he always seemed to deliberately separate Ashley's skills from the others. "Just for get about it, lets get something to eat I'm hungry."

"It's about time." Carlos said looking at his watch. Even though Carlos was always ignorant of what was going on around him he usually could tell what was bothering Ashley; they had been friends for as long as he had known Cassie.

"So why don't we head down to the Surf Spot?" Cassie suggested.

"Mmmmmm, yeah that sounds good," TJ said closing his eyes as he imagined a hamburger sitting right in front of him.

NEW POV

"Stop simulation." Demorphing Andros stepped out of the Symudeck and leaned against the consol trying to catch his breath. He had been working more than an hour, trying to push himself to complete the challenging exercise that he had set up, but still no success.

Dressed in sweats and a sleeveless red shirt Andros sat down on the floor and mentally summoned his towel toward him. Lifting his arm he grabbed it out of the air and wiped the sweat from his forehead. As he look down the shimmer of his locket caught his eye. He picked it up and delicately placed the necklace over his head while staring at the design. It had been a while since he had used his telekinesis. It seemed that he was using it less and less since the day his sister had been kidnapped. He had completed the training for it but ever since then the desire to use it had dissipated.

The other ranger's though had seen him use it a few times but when they questioned him about it he didn't offer any information about it. Things were just too painful around that matter. He also remembered having to dodge out of another touchy subject when TJ questioned him about one of the living quarters.

"_Hey Andros wait, what's this room over here?" TJ asked pointing to the door. When he turned to look at the room his heart sank and a disturbing memory entered his mind._

"_I mean I'm only asking because I thought that all of the guest quarters were on the opposite side of the Rangers," TJ's comment went unheard in his mind as an image of his best friend's death plagued him; the fatal explosion clouding him to the point where the Mega ship was completely forgotten. *No! Not again…please…*._

_After the explosion had subsided he almost relaxed thinking that the vision would clear like it had done so many times before, but this time it didn't, it went even further than what he had thought and forced him to see a brief image of his friend lying on the ground. _

_Snapping his eyes back into focus he found himself on the Mega ship staring at the door to his friend's room. Tears were threatening to envelope him, but he would not let them pass through his defenses, especially if it was in front of these people that he barely knew. He hadn't cried since even before he was a ranger and he certainly would not start now. He stood there in what seemed like an abrupt pause, but all at once he felt TJ's eyes on him as well as the rest of the rangers. When the stillness deepened he noticed that they were starting to exchange glances between each other, making the silence between them even more uncomfortable. _

_*Why did I invite these people into my life! They have no business asking me these questions.* He jerked his head toward TJ giving him a solemn look. _

"_That is no concern of yours." Andros said firmly and turned to walk away. _

That had not been the first time he had experienced one of those visions, in fact it was one of many, though what was more troubling about it was that the scene had gone further than he had expected. Usually after the explosion all he saw were people walking from broken homes or sometimes nothing at all, but this time it went as far as to show him the lifeless body of his friend.

He had been caught completely off guard almost breaking down in front of everyone. He could only assume that the reason for being even remotely emotional over the issue was because he had not experienced one of those traumatic visions for months. In the past, when his visions had started becoming more frequent he persisted to try and recognize the triggers that started them. Once he had figured that out preventing them was simple.

He cursed at himself for experiencing that vision when he should have had complete control over it; having himself falter like that would give an impression of weakness, which he could not afford to show. He sighed, trying to calm himself down and push the notion toward the back of his mind. Concentrating more on the present, his mind wandered into thinking about Ashley. He could say to himself that he liked her, but knew that he would never be able to make a confession. What reason would she have to like him anyway?

He wouldn't mind the company of his teammates right now if there was any, but since he was already disappointed that he couldn't beat that battle replication he knew that he would just cause unwanted attention to himself. He had never particularly enjoyed being around crowds and the two years he had spent alone on his space ship had made it easier to avoid them. Four other people on the Mega ship made it hard enough, let alone going down into public.

Being cut off from everyone was where he thought he belonged, but now that he had new teammates and possible friendships isolation was becoming impossible. They seemed to consider him as one of them but having the responsibility of friends was a task he wasn't sure he could take, but losing them at this point was not an option. He envied their friendships as well as the bonds that they shared with each other, and each time that he noticed it a stab of loneliness would shoot through his chest.

He stood up and walked out of the room heading toward his quarters. Showering he changed into his Mega Ship uniform which consisted of a red shirt neatly tucked into his gray pants and a gray long sleeved vest hanging loosely over him. To the left of his vest was a design image of his planet showing that he was a ranger of KO-35. On his right there were five colored bars similar to his ranger uniform that representing the Astro Mega Ship and Rangers.

Pulling his black highlighted hair back into a tight ponytail Andros returned to the bridge and set to work on scanning the next system. Which at times was tedious since one planet could take hours to scan properly. As bits of information started coming in he began to read over the material trying to recognize anything that would have given him a clue as to where Dark Specter's whereabouts' could be. "DECA can we get any more detailed with this?"

"Because of our current location getting a more accurate reading would be impossible."

"Alright then let's go from…." The sound of the alarm went off abruptly, cutting him off before he could say anything else.

"Andros, the rangers have gone into active battle on earth."

"Send me the coordinates." Standing up he lifted his wrist and instantly saw the coordinates transferring to his morpher. Pressing a button he was immediately engulfed in a flash of red light and disappeared.

He punched a quatron in the chest sending him hurling backwards against a tree. They were in the park and the sun was nearly setting. Luckily anyone who would have been there had gotten out of the area without much struggle.

As he took another quatron down Andros noticed a flash of yellow appear at his side. Ashley had somehow spotted him in the distance and was now fighting with him. Usually she ended up fighting with Carlos. In the past few months that they had been in combat together he couldn't remember her once fighting side by side with him, but now he knew why he never did. Her presence was almost impossible to ignore; all of her swift motions and dangerous actions were either very well thought of or were going to kill her.

His heart nearly stopped when he saw her next perilous combination. After taking down another quatron he spared a quick glance toward her again and saw her jumping up to her feet after she had just finished a deadly attack. Jerking his head back to the fight he blocked a punch meant for his chest and caught it in his hand. Twisting the quatrons arm he flipped him over making it hit the ground. Straightening up and seeing that he had taken out all of his quatrons he turned to seek out the other rangers.

Seeing that some of the quatrons had shifted toward Cassie he started to step toward her when he felt something push against his back throwing him forward. Instinctively he did a tuck and role twisting around to find out what had pushed him. It was Ecliptor, he was supposedly Astronema's surrogate father, but he had no idea how the two of them had ever met. His whole body was black with green lines outlining his well-built muscles. Astronema though seemed human enough without all of her makeup and wardrobe covering her features. So thinking of them together as if they were family was somewhat strange.

Andros pulled out his weapon of choice, the spiral saber, and watched Ecliptor pull out his sword during the charge. Lifting his saber Andros blocked the attempted strike and pushed him back. Ecliptor attacked again unfazed by Andros' thrust, but before he could befall upon him Andros immediately lifted his saber and blocked the attack again. This time though Ecliptor had drove such strength into him that he was shoved backwards. Keeping wary eyes on Ecliptor, Andros concentrated on his footing trying to stop the force from coming onto him, but before he could defend himself Ecliptor had crushed his back against a tree.

His saber now lay against his collar bone with Ecliptor's sword pressed over top of it closing in upon his neck. This gave Andros a chance to look over Ecliptor's shoulder and he noticed that the quatrons had shifted again. They were putting distance between him and the others. _This is not good_.

Then the sword lay against his neck he could feel the blade almost cutting into his armored suit. Needing to react fast he kneed Ecliptor in the stomach, but the tight hold that was on him did not loosen. Andros then drove his knee into him again as hard as he could and finally he felt Ecliptor loosened his grasp. Taking advantage of his off balanced state Andros placed his foot behind Ecliptor's ankle and shoved him backward. When he fell to the ground Andros stood over top of him and pointed his saber at his chest daring him to move. Ecliptor stared up at him with his red menacing eyes, showing no sign of fear.

"Well fought Red Ranger."

"I would consider not talking if I were you." Andros said pointing his saber closer to Ecliptor.

"Consider this; I would be careful where my focus lies on the battle ground." Andros furrowed his brow and then his eyes widened underneath his helmet. Quickly he spared another glance at Ashley without turning his head. Ashley though was still fighting quatrons oblivious to his and Ecliptor's discourser.

"You see even now she consumes your thoughts." Andros reverted his eyes back to Ecliptor about to say something but it was too late, Ecliptor's sword hit the back of his knees causing them to buckle underneath him. Before Andros collapsed on top of him, Ecliptor had grabbed his shoulders and pushed him to the side effectively switching their positions. He cursed himself for losing his concentration.

His saber was now beside him with Ecliptor's foot on top of it enabling him to move his weapon. In the distance he could hear someone calling for him as Ecliptor's sword edged dangerously close to his neck for the second time in the same battle.

"The tables have turned and it looks like our time has run out." Then before Andros realized what was happening Ecliptor quickly came down to his knee and jammed his metal fist into his stomach leaving him completely helpless. Immediately he cried out, barely noticing Ecliptor's escape, and wrapped his arms around himself trying to banish the pain within. He coughed weakly taking in huge gasps of air to fill his lungs. Knowing that the others were going to be coming over toward him soon he turned over to sit up on his knees.

This motion caused a wave of dizziness to pass through him forcing Andros to put a hand out in front of him on the ground. He coughed again taking in another large breath. When his breathing finally started to calm down he noticed the other rangers hovering over him. Quickly he stood up trying to ignore his nausea and urge to pass out. Thankfully though he had his ranger suit on when it occurred, but the aftereffects when he would demorph would give him no peace later on. The power that he held though would see too his mending. But bruises were going to be a definite; even the power couldn't control the physical outcomes of a hard blow like that.

"Andros…are you alright, what happened?" Carlos asked grabbing his arm as he started to waver. But he pushed him back and deliberately tried not to look at Ashley as he felt her eyes on him.

"Nothing happened I'm fine." His voice was hoarse and weak from coughing. A sudden jab in his side caused him to wince when he tried to breathe normally, but he refused to acknowledge it or show that he was in pain. There was no way he was going to tell them that he had lost his concentration when he had the enemy right in his hands especially if it was because of Ashley.

NEW POV

He sat on his bed trying to rest from the strenuous day. Two attacks in the past twenty-four hours. Now that was rare even for her. What could Astronema be up too? Could there have been something they might have missed?

Ecliptor was there too, which worried him, because Andros had a history of trying to handle too much and getting himself in trouble; it made him wondered how Andros had survived on his own for so long. Especially from what happened today, even though Andros wasn't talking about it Carlos had a pretty good idea of what happened, and it seemed that he was the only one who knew.

It was while he was fighting his last few quatrons when he couldn't help but overhear their discussion. Ecliptor had pointed out something with Andros' concentration. The only trouble Andros usually had was his problem in keeping his anger in check, but he didn't think that that was what Ecliptor was talking about. And since when did Ashley ever fight alongside Andros? He crossed his arms over his chest.

But thinking about Ashley and Andros together, as much as it surprised him, didn't cause him to feel any jealousy. His and Ashley's relationship never really worked out the way he wanted it to, but her happiness was still one important to him. He considered her more like his little sister than a best friend really someone to watch out for and her in return when it was needed. He knew that if Ashley was fighting beside him and he still had those strong feelings of affection for her he definitely would have had a hard time keeping his concentration.

In the fight when he saw that Andros had Ecliptor pinned on the ground, he turned to take down his last two quatrons only to turn back around and find their positions switched. Andros had somehow lost his focus; it wouldn't have made any sense to him unless he hadn't overheard the last phrase that Ecliptor had spoken. Andros' distraction came from Ashley, and since he was the only other ranger that had noticed Andros' struggle he finished off his own quatrons and started running toward Ecliptor before something drastic could happen. It ended up being too late though Ecliptor had gotten down on his knee and punched Andros fiercely in the stomach. He winced when he heard Andros' small cry.

It took a lot for someone to make Andros cry out like that so he couldn't help being a little concerned. By the time he had gotten there Ecliptor had all but vanished without a trace. It was only moments later when he noticed the other rangers were standing next to him demorphed. When he looked at them he saw their faces with a look that wanted to know what had happened and if he was alright. Not wanting to make a scene and upset Andros more than he already was he demorphed himself and simply asked if he was alright.

Sitting up from his bed he stretched out and looked up. "DECA?" He asked in the middle of a yawn. Her red light blinked on immediately when he spoke.

"Yes Carlos?" She asked in her usual feminine monotone voice. "What time is it?"

"It is now 10:35 pm in Angel Grove." It wasn't that late, and since it was summer they didn't have to abide by the school time the next morning. Of course DECA didn't seem to think that way and neither did Andros. He often wondered if their fearless leader ever got any sleep at all. Usually he would be awake long after everyone went to bed and up long before anyone would get up. Or maybe it was just some weird KO-35 custom that had been lasting for the past month.

Rubbing his eyes he asked DECA to brighten the lights from their original dim. When his eyes adjusted Carlos let his hand fall back down to his knee and he turned to look back up at the computer. Her snake like neck and red eye camera that was attached to the wall stared down at him questioningly as if she was wondering why he was looking at her at all. "DECA, do you know where Andros is?"

When no immediate answer came from her he turned his head and was going to say something more to get her attention when she responded with worry in her voice. "Andros is on the Symudeck." Carlos' eyes widen.

"He's is? Agggggg." Frustration was etched in his voice and he placed a hand on his forehead. "Man he's gonna kill me if I come in there and argue with him about what happened today." He threw himself backwards on his bed and groaned aloud.

He really didn't want to take Andros' attitude, but he needed to see if he was alright and being on the Symudeck might be making things worse for him right now. That boy usually never got hurt in a fight and even if he did Andros wouldn't tell them about it. Was he even human as he said he was? Andros did say that the colony he came from was of a human race but the characteristics he was showing of himself were making him wonder. Right now though, he needed to go check on him before things got too out of hand.

"Does…Andros' condition bother you?" DECA asked with a slight hesitation. Carlos turned his head to look at her.

"Does it bother _you_? Have you even _looked_ at him lately? I mean, with the hit he took today and with as much sleep as he has gotten in the past _month, _I don't know, I'm worried."

"I understand you concern. I am sorry that Andros' stubbornness is causing you this distress." Carlos sighed and stood up from his bed.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you're on a team and that's the price I pay for paying attention." He grumbled as he walked over toward his door letting it open automatically, but just as he was about to walk through a hand came up on his shoulder and pushed him back in.

"Ash…?" Before anything else could be said he had been cut off.

"Alright Carlos I know you're hiding something. You might have been able to fool the others that easily, but I know you so just sit down and start talking." He stumbled backwards as he was pushed onto his bed. The door closed behind her and she sat on the floor in front of him Indian style waiting expectantly for him to start talking.

"uhhaaaaa…Ashhhh…" He groaned as he buried his head in the pillow beside him.

"I'm not leaving until I get an explanation Carlos." He sighed again dropping it down in his lap to look at her. _How does she always know?_ It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Ashley, he just wasn't sure how Andros would appreciate it if he did; though from past experience with his teammates, secrets never stayed secrets.

"Alright, Alright I give in, but how did you know?" She wrinkled her nose at him and smiled.

"It's pretty much world knowledge that you can't keep a secret since you have such little experience with them. You were so guilty just from the way you looked at Andros after the fight today, and I could hear you talking to DECA outside you're door." She chuckled as a smug expression crept across her face.

"Great so you're stalking me _and_ eavesdropping, now I have to watch my back from my best friend?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean too, I mean it's not like I did it on purpose or anything." He sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah I know." He smirked at her and then eased himself into a comfortable position on his bed. He retold her what he had been thinking about for the past half hour. She didn't say anything or give any facial expression as to what her feelings were and when he finished she just sat there averting her eyes to the floor until she finally spoke.

"So you think he likes me?" Ashley asked still staring at the floor but the smile on her face was becoming evident. He chuckled a little at her reaction to his story, and saw her hug her knees to her chest.

"In so many words Ashley yes I think he does even if he hasn't admitted it to himself yet." She looked up at him again as she started biting her lip.

"Do you think he's alright?" He could tell by that action that she was a little bit uneasy talking about this and he noticed her eyes wandering around the room again.

"I'm not sure. DECA seems worried about him, I was just about to go talk to him he's…he's on the Symudeck now." It was at that moment that she snapped her eyes back at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"He's on the Symudeck!" Carlos ran a hand through his hair now making it his turn to avoid her gaze.

"Yeah I know that's why I was going to go talk to him." Ashley stood up quickly. "I'll do it and maybe I can convince him to have DECA take a look at him too." He raised his eyebrows and then lifted up his hands, "Good luck, saves me some trouble," When she reached the door she turned to glanced back at him. "Hey Carlos," He looked at her expectantly, "Thanks," and he just smiled when she turned back heading out towards the Symudeck.

NEW POV

He was morphed and fighting off the computer simulation set up that he had been working on early that day. He knew that he was pushing himself to the limits but fighting was the only thing that was giving release to his anger and frustration. Ecliptor was right that he wasn't focused, and so why not work on it. Andros continued fighting yelling aloud after he gave a final blow to a simulated quatron giving him more release to his anger, but it wasn't long until his chest was beginning to complain.

He knew it wasn't a good sign since he was morphed, but the pain was a welcome feeling to replace the irritation that was ebbing away at him. Vaguely he noticed someone coming into the room. Deciding not to acknowledge who it was he kept on fighting. Distantly he heard his name being called but he continued to ignore it as he tried to concentrate. Then he heard it again stronger and more forceful this time. Turning around he saw Ashley standing beside the consol looking at him. Hesitantly she stepped forward,

"Can I…can I talk to you?" Anger flared immediately inside him. _What could she possibly want to talk about?_ He stood there gaping at her for a few moments completely put off guard by her question, until a colliding force had hit him on his shoulder bringing him back to reality. Turning around to face the quatron he pulled out his spiral saber and mercilessly tore him apart. Without comment to Ashley he grudgingly stopped the simulation and crossed his arms over his head flinging them down to his sides.

"Power down!" A bright flash of red light filled the room. He now stood clad in another pair of sweats and red tang-top. He couldn't help wincing after he de-morphed, feeling the full blow of his injury come back to him. Sweat was dripping down his forehead and over the side of his face. Avoiding her gaze he walked over toward the side of the room and picked up his towel and locket from the floor. The throbbing increased with the sudden movement, but he remained stone faced. Quickly he placed his necklace over his head and hid it under his shirt.

"What do you want?" He asked trying to sound annoyed as she walked towards him and then stop, keeping a comfortable distance between them.

"…Andros what's bothering you?" He continued to stare at the floor as he answered.

"Why should it matter to you?" She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why do you think Andros? You're apart of this group. What affects anyone on this team affects _everyone_ on this team. Just because you're our leader doesn't mean you have to hide from something that's obviously bothering you. Why don't you just talk about it?"

He noticed her voice soften with sympathy and her face tilt to the side in concern. As much as her gestures surprised him her response baffled him even more but he continued to stare down at the floor, thinking about how best to avoid the question. Telling her would just let her into his life more than it already was and if anything he had to admit that he was scared. But if what he felt for the team and her affected him this much now…then what would the difference be if he actually tried being friends.

"Andros." Breaking him out of his reflection he lifted his eyes up to her but quickly looked away. "Closing yourself off is only making things worse." He could feel his face hardening at that statement. The frustration that was leaking out of him made him snap his head up to look at her with cold and menacing eyes.

"What gives you the right to question me? The next time I end up letting someone else into my life it will tear me apart." He could hear everything building up with each word but it didn't phase her, in fact it seemed to give her courage to speak more forcefully.

"Andros if your so bent on not letting anyone into you're life then why did you come back after you left us on that planet?" There was a long silence after that. The only thing he could do was stand there and stare at her. Why _did_ he go back after them if in the end he would just isolate himself further? It was because he finally felt a peace that he had been longing for, for so long. If only to himself he confessed that he cared about his team, but why was it so hard to put into words. Before he was able to say anything else Ashley started speaking with a bitterness that he had never heard from her before.

"You know if it weren't for the relationships that we have with our friends now then the war between good and evil would have been lost a long time ago!" She paused for a moment and then continued in a less demanding tone.

"We all have our weaknesses Andros, and there are advantages and disadvantages to being on a team, but when it comes to fighting battles like this, the chances for anyone to survive on their own is slim to none. Carlos, Cassie, TJ, and I, we don't know anything about space, but you take care of it when it's needed, and we help you, whether you realize it or not." As much as he wanted to be upset with her he couldn't because he knew that she was right, but his stubbornness and pride would not be held back.

"And when have you covered for me?" He mentally kicked himself for saying that, but she didn't lash out at him or give him an answer right away and when he thought that she wasn't going to reply he saw her start to walk toward him.

Before he could question her she pressed her hand up against his side. His own hand instantly went over hers and he gasped aloud from the sudden pain it caused. He looked straight into her eyes trying not to give away his discomfort, but it was becoming unbearable.

"How about now Andros?"

"…What…about now" His voice faltered and his hand tightened on hers.

"Well from my standpoint you seem like you could use some help." When Ashley's hand left his side he let out an unsteady breath, glad that it didn't cause any sort of twinge.

"DECA, can you teleport us to the medical bay?" His eyes widened at the statement and he was about to protest when a blur of red light obscured his vision. Looking around he found himself in the medical bay. Angrily he glared at DECA. She had just teleported him out of that room faster than she would have ever teleported any of them in the middle of a crisis. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ashley had turned away from him but only to return within moments.

"Sit down." She said sternly, he didn't immediately comply but when he got a warning glance from her he reluctantly sat down. A stab of pain greeted him as he lifted himself up onto the patient bed. He disregarded it as Ashley turned to face him with a med scanner. After a few seconds she lowered the device next to him on the patient bed and turned away. Absently he noticed that she was talking with DECA but he wasn't paying attention. All the things that she confessed to him were true. This was his team and he was shrugging them off as if they were nothing. What if they left because of his irresponsibility toward them? It was his duty to keep the team in line and together, but right now he was pushing them away.

If they hadn't been such good friends before he met them then who knows where they would be now. The only thing that was basically keeping them together was that they had the same mission and goal. Protect earth and find Zordon. Being so caught up in his own thoughts he almost didn't notice her move to sit next to him. Suddenly she took his hand and he felt a tablet being pressed against his palm.

"DECA says that this should help with the pain and that you should probably take it easy for a few days." She handed him a small glass of water and he took it without comment or complaint. After he swallowed the pill he stared down at the floor in front of him. "Andros…" Her voice penetrated the silence of the room and for some reason he was afraid to look at her. She placed a hand on his arm making him flinch back involuntarily, but she didn't pull away. "Andros…" Then he felt her hand go toward his chin turning his head to face her and surprisingly he didn't resist.

"Can't you see that you're already being torn apart? Each day that you have this unhappiness it just makes it worse." Another long stillness entered the room as they both stared at each other. _Was that true? Had he gone so far within himself that it was effectively destroying him? _

Without thinking he pulled away receiving another sharp pain for the quick movement. Unconsciously he started to put his hand over his side only to drop it immediately showing that he was indeed fine. He was walking toward the door when Ashley started speaking to him again.

"If you think that we don't care about you well then you're dead wrong. It's so hard to see you like this." He paused in the doorway trying to understand what was in her voice. It was full of a distress that he had never heard form her before. "You've been through so much Andros, I know you have. Will you just trust us enough to talk about it or at least…trust me?" But what if they couldn't accept him for who he was? He couldn't face it he wasn't ready, and just as he was about to walk out through the door Ashley's voice came back to him, full force having a combination of sternness and vehemence.

"Don't you _dare_ think that you're going to be left alone with this. You're apart of this team Andros, and when we say that we're a team that's suppose to mean something. Stop thinking your alone all the time. I'm still here and I haven't given up on you and neither have they."

He turned his head slightly staring at the wall as the reality of her words started to sink in. All the hurt that he had felt since he was a child had surfaced within that moment and for the first time in a very long time he felt like someone was telling him the truth. These people, teammates, his friends, weren't going to let him go. They weren't going to abandon him in the torturous guilt that he had been living with ever since his life had been taken away from him.

When he turned his head to look at her, seriousness radiated off her face giving him all the more reason to believe that she had meant what she said. He didn't know how long he was standing there, but dark thoughts were hindering him making him feel vulnerable and afraid. Then for some reason his vision blurred and he closed his eyes momentarily to try and clear them. When he opened them Ashley was standing in front of him. Slowly and somewhat hesitantly her hand went up to his face and he took a quick intake of breath when he realized that he was crying. He stepped back a little pulling away from her touch, unsure of what she was going to do.

But she didn't recoil only placed her hand steadily over his tear stained face to wipe them away. More thoughts and memories began to overwhelm him and then without warning he felt arms wrap around his neck and pull him close into a comforting hug.

His jaw was clenched tight as his body froze in place trying to understand what was happening, but somehow his arms went around her clinging tightly. As scared as he was he was finally giving in. No longer was he fighting to stay strong as he let himself cry but he was desperate to hold onto this one comfort that he was almost sure would leave him in the end. Absently in the background he heard Ashley's soothing voice telling him that it was alright and that everything was going to be ok and for the first time, he felt that just maybe it would.

16


	3. Never Give Up

Never Give Up

_"Andros…Andros where are you?" He looked around frantically trying to place where the childlike voice was coming from._

_ "Karone? Are you there?" He asked. The park that surrounded him was a very uncomfortable setting in an all too familiar place._

"_Andros…" He turned around suddenly realizing that the voice had come from behind him. His four year old sister was standing several feet away from him with tears streaming down her cheeks. _

_She was wearing the same yellow coveralls that she had worn when she was taken. Her blond hair was pulled back with her favorite headband wrapped around her forehead and ribbons dangling down the side of her face._

_All he wanted to do, in that moment, was to go to her and wrap her in his arms, but his feet weren't responding…and he couldn't reach her. _

"_Why…didn't you come for me when I called?" She sobbed "Andros…why…why didn't you save me…?" Her voice hitched on the last words making it tear through his heart. Her hands were clenched into fists shaking at her sides as she heaved in a deep breath.  
_

"_Karone…I…I didn't know…I'm sorry…I'm sorry Karone…" But she shook her head in protest and her face unexpectedly looked at him with utter disgust._

"_No, Andros…no…" Before he could question what she meant the little girl turned around and started walking away._

_ "Karone wait…please…" He still couldn't move and yet she was getting farther and farther away. _

"Karone" His eyes snapped open as he bolted up right in bed. He groaned aloud immediately regretting his sudden movement. Placing his left hand lightly across his abdomen he leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes prepared to think about anything to get him through this agony. The dream; he should have expected that. Last night had been one of the hardest things that he had ever done. Everyone on the team of course knew about his sister but Ashley was the first one to have ever heard the story since Zhane, and he didn't even have to tell him because Zhane had been there when it happened.

Andros had managed to control himself somewhat during his discourse with Ashley but the only thing driving him forward while explaining the death of his parents was her quiet words of encouragement. It wasn't until he finished when the sudden realization of what he had just said hit him. He turned away at that point ashamed and embarrassed as silent tears of defeat started running down his face again.

But when Ashley came up to him the look on her face wasn't what he had expected. There was no judgment or disappointment in her eyes like he had seen on so many faces before. Instead they were filled with compassion and kindness. And without another word she had taken him up in her arms again; giving him her strength in his horrible time of weakness. He couldn't believe how accepting she had been after all the things he had said and done to her.

_Especially_ to her. The team he treated badly; but Ashley was the one who always received the full force of his wrath. Sparring was another issue he tried to avoid with her for reasons other than just staring. One thing was for sure though: sparring wasn't going to be at the top of his list of things to do today. Lifting up the arm that was draped over him he examined his injury. Huge bruises had formed during the night appearing right below his rib cage. Hopefully by the end of the day the stiffness would be gone and he could resume training without much trouble.

Slowly he stood up from his bed and awkwardly tried to put his uniform on. After he finally managed to get his pants and tank top shirt over him his breathing was labored, and the tension within him had increased. Something wasn't right. His whole body felt weak and almost drained. He stumbled over toward his dresser to pull out a shirt as he continued to contemplate the situation. He had experienced injuries like these before but never did they last this long nor were they this grueling. Every move he made was almost unbearable to the point where he needed to stop all together just to recover. The power should have stabilized by now.

Putting his hands through the sleeves of his shirt he lifted his arms over his head to put it on, but what he didn't anticipate was the instant burning pain that coursed through him. It had caught him so completely off guard that he found himself stumbling backwards. His shirt dropped to the floor as his body collided into the wall behind him; causing another shooting pain. But this time it was impossible to hold back the loud cry that escaped his lips.

Slowly he sagged down to the floor unable to hold himself up any longer. The burning sensation was still as strong as ever showing no signs of backing off. "DECA…" He rasped as he tried to pull himself off the floor; but his body ached and was screaming in protest not to be moved.

"Yes Andros?" She answered. Her red light blinked on as she stared down at him.

"DECA…what's wrong with me?" He finally just gave up and sat there waiting for a response.

"Your readings are quite unusual." He could hear the apologetic tone in her voice for not telling him sooner.

"In my finding's you have been struck by a metal that came from Ecliptor's body. He hit you with such strength that it penetrated your uniform or more specifically your power. It has been causing some difficulties with your healing process." He raised his eyebrows while looking across the room at her.

"Some…?" Her voice this time sounded sympathetic.

"Your body is trying to compensate from your lack of healing powers. Precisely 6 hours ago your healing process had reversed itself making your state somewhat worse than the day before. At the moment it has stabilized and should begin its regular course momentarily. Though as I analyze the battle it might be to your advantage to know that I don't believe Ecliptor initiated this weapon with conscious thought," Andros gasped as another twinge of pain griped his side.

"You mean…" He kept on going trying in anyway possible to distract himself, "He doesn't know that he has this power?"

"Essentially correct, for the time being though I recommend that you rest." He almost glared at DECA for that comment. How could he rest? There were so many things that he wanted to do, needed to do. Figuring out what Ecliptor had against them considered as the most important. Something like this couldn't be allowed to happen again. All he needed to do was to figure out how to enhance their morphers and maybe he could find an immunity to it.

"Andros…?" His head quickly turned to the side as he looked at the door of his room. He should have expected someone to hear him for how loud he had yelled but that didn't mean he had to respond. Quickly he tried to pull himself up off the floor but another searing pain caused him to stay put. His eyes were squeezed shut longing for anything to subdue his misery.

"Andros, are you alright?" Suddenly the door to his room automatically opened and instantly his eyes snapped open as he glared at DECA. The camera just stared right back at him as if she hadn't just opened _his _doorwithout his permission. And without any further comment he grudgingly turned his head back toward the door trying to keep his face as serene as possible.

NEW POV

She was restless and on edge, which was probably why she found herself up at this god-forsaken hour. Somehow Andros' experience had gotten to her and the disturbing images that came to her in the middle of the night were more than enough to arouse her. After finding out from DECA that Andros _was _indeed awake had been when she heard the loud noise across the hall.

His door automatically opened to reveal Andros lying on the floor of his room which made her heart wrench in fear. "Andros! What happened." Ashley rushed in and knelt down next to him placing her hand across his forehead. Instantly he jerked his head away from her and he winced in spite of it, "Don't move." She said firmly. Trying again, she slowly placed her hand over his brow and felt his skin. It was a little warm but nothing to indicate a fever, "DECA is he alright?"

Just as she was about to see if he had done something to cause any further injury to himself a hand grabbed her wrist holding it effectively in place. "Don't." His voice was harsh but at the same time forced as if he was fighting for control, fighting not to show how helpless he really was. It was more than enough to get her attention and when she met his gaze it was as fearsome as ever. His grip on her wrist was starting to hurt, but there was no way she was going to let him intimidate her now, not when it seemed that he needed her the most.

"Andros stop pushing me away…you have to trust me." His intense stare was still challenging her and she returned it with solace and reassurance. It wasn't for another few seconds until he finally turned his head away at the same time releasing her.

"That's just the problem." He mumbled. Ashley blinked in surprise both by the response and from the tone in his voice. It sounded dark and almost……remorseful.

"What is?" She asked when he didn't seem to be anymore forthcoming. Another pause came and it wasn't until she was about to ask him again when he finally spoke.

"Why are you here Ashley?" She tilted her head to the side wondering what he meant by that.

"Do you want me to leave?" She saw him hesitate over the answer but he shook his head wordlessly and her lips slowly curved upward. "Good because I wasn't going to leave you even if you had told me too." He still wasn't looking at her but she saw him shake his head again as she sat on the floor facing him more comfortably. "No, that's not what I meant…why are you here at all?" His voice was solemn, betraying nothing of what he was thinking, which made it more difficult to answer the question. She wasn't sure what he was looking for or what he meant, but she had a feeling that there was more meaning to his words than what he was saying.

"On the Megaship? To…to search for Zordon…protect Earth…."

"No that's not what's bothering me Ashley!" His voice was sharp and she almost retorted back with an answer of her own when he pressed on, "I don't deserve any of your friendships, especially yours." She opened her mouth to interrupt but he stopped her. "All I've done is made things difficult for you since you've been here and yet you still stay." His head turned up to face her with a look that plainly said how much he was struggling to understand. "Why do you stay?"

And that was when it clicked. She had just come seemingly out of nowhere into his life offering compassion, acceptance, and kindness while he had been given the privilege to see the true heart of evil. The only family Andros had ever known had unintentionally left him. Right after that as young as he was he had been thrust into the world of violence to become a Ranger. He had every right to mistrust what she was offering, but at the same time she knew that, that was what he needed. This was her time to show him that the world wasn't as cruel as it had been made out to be for him.

"Because you're my friend Andros," Slowly and somewhat hesitantly her hand went overtop of his but she continued speaking without falter. "And maybe because I believe there is more to you than what you choose to show us." He didn't move his hand nor did he respond to it, only seeming to be frozen in place. "We're Power Rangers, since when have we ever given up on something let alone one another?" A few moments past and unexpectedly Andros' mouth lifted up into a small half smile; it was an expression she had never seen openly on his face before and then she realized she was returning it with one of her own.

Giving him a reassuring squeeze she called out to DECA. Immediately the computer started speaking about what had happened. While she listened, Andros' eyes slid closed seemly content to just sit and rest. She flinched at the sight when she pulled up his shirt to take a closer look at what had happened. His skin had turned into a sickening shade of purple and yellow over the area where Ecliptor must have hit him. Gently she started tracing her fingers over his ribs to see if there were any breaks. She could feel him tense noticeably and see his jaw clench but his expression remained neutral as she continued to inspect him.

The bruises though were not the only things she noticed on his well toned body. Long unhealed scars were another thing that was prominent and imagining how he had endured that horror seemed almost impossible. The explanation DECA had given her about the metal in Ecliptor caused her worry but she was glad none-the-less when she found out that his healing abilities from his morpher were now taking affect. After she pulled his shirt back down she noticed his eyes were still closed and it made her wonder if he had fallen asleep.

His face was now innocent and young; he was no longer the battle-hardened warrior he had tried so hard to be for so long. She noticed him take a deep breath and his eyes slowly opened. When they caught hers he gazed back at her with a questioning look and it was only then that she realized she was staring. A faint blush appeared on her face and she quickly pulled herself away and slowly she shifted to her feet. "Can you stand?" Wordlessly he tried to move but she didn't trust his silence. Grabbing his arm she slowly helped him up.

"I'm fine Ashley," He said trying to push her away. That did nothing to help his balance and it was only her quick reaction that saved him from what could have been another disaster. She didn't make any comment but when he had gained his balance and she could tell that he seemed semi comfortable with the situation, she draped his arm over her shoulder and put her other arm lightly around his waist so as not to hurt him.

His immediate response was to tighten up as he tried not to lean against her but when they started moving the weight that went on top of her was not surprising. Her intent for him was easily recognized as she walked toward his bed and she took it for what it was when he halted at her side.

"Ashley…" She had known this argument was going to come up the moment she saw him lying on the floor. Giving a loud sigh she turned her head to look at him.

"Just listen to me for a minute ok?" He didn't say anything and she wasn't going to wait for him to answer. "Look at yourself, you can barely stand, you haven't slept for probably more than a few hours not to mention how irregular your normal sleep patterns have been, and your body is still trying to heal from what happened yesterday. Which makes it a wonder you can stand at all!" There was silence as they both stared each other down. His hazel eyes bored into hers and she almost couldn't take it anymore when he unexpectedly reverted his gaze to the floor.

Closing her own eyes she took a deep breath to gain her composer. She hadn't meant to yell at him but his stubbornness was ridiculous. In addition to his attitude the nervousness she felt was putting her on edge, and the close distance that was between them was _not_ helping.Opening her eyes she saw his gaze reverting back to her. He continued to stare at her without reserve and that was when her heart started pounding in her chest. All thoughts soon were banished from her mind when she realized she was moving closer to him, so close that she could feel his uneasy breath against her face.

She couldn't stop herself and he wasn't giving her any indication to stop either. Without anymore notion to what she was doing she closed her eyes and lightly brushed her lips against his.

It only lasted a moment and she pulled back before he was able to make any kind of response. Trying to see his reaction she almost smiled from the way he looked, he was trying desperately to hide utter shock. Then reality hit her, _oh my God what did I just do? _Still he didn't say anything and that only made her even more anxious. Did he even know what kissing meant on earth?

Turning her gaze forward she was hoping against hope that he would follow as she pulled at his waist. Relief washed over her the instant she felt him stumble beside her toward the bed. When he had sat down she pulled away determined not to look him in the eye.

"Try and get some sleep I'll see you in a few hours." And with that she turned around and left.

NEW POV

"Angel Grove time 7:00 AM, it is time to wake up Cassie."  
"Mmmmmmmmm.....DECA.....Don't you think that we deserve to sleep in just this once?"

DECA's camera blinked down at her. "My sensors indicate that you have received the qualified amount of sleep to be able to perform at optimum level."

Mumbling something unintelligible she tried to think of anything they were doing today that would motivate her enough to get out of bed. When nothing came to mind she simply turned to her side and closed her eyes again. Silence greeted the room and Cassie was more than willing to embrace it. "It is now 7:02 AM, if this process continues you will more than likely miss breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." She answered tiredly but of course DECA wasn't put off.

"For humans to co-exist it is necessary that they consume a certain amount of food and liquids in one day. Breakfast is known to be the most important meal and for you to be able to function properly there must be a bal…"

"DECA, why are you being so difficult?" Her voice was getting clearer but it still didn't make up for the fact that she didn't want to leave comfort of her bed.

"It is not within my programming to be impressed upon by someone who is still fogged by sleep." She couldn't take it anymore. It was probably better to just get up then to have to listen to a lecture from a computer at seven in the morning.

"Fine, I'm up." Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she sat up; pushed the covers off of her, and walked over toward her closet. Blindly she grabbed one of the hangers that held her Astro flight uniform. Breakfast really didn't seem at all appealing this morning, which wasn't good since Andros was probably going to make them spar. Normally she never usually bothered with the breakfast ritual at least not until she met TJ. The closest friend she ever had and the one who was always there when she needed someone. In the beginning, because she had moved out on her parents to Angle Grove, TJ helped her adjust to living there. Things though didn't go as smoothly as she planned. When Katherine had chosen her to carry on as the pink ranger life became very difficult.

It was at the end of her freshmen year when moving had become a habit, given that she had switched houses more than three times within that year. Carlos and Ashley had known about a few of the moves but she never really confided in them as much as she did in TJ.

It was when summer came after their first year that made it easier for her to make excuses to the people she was living with, but the starting of her sophomore year only brought along more chaos, and it was at that point that she decided to just stop talking about it. For all she knew TJ assumed she staying with one of her aunt's, when really Cassie was being thrown back and forth from family, friends, to even a friend's friend which made the situation both depressing and awkward.

It was an awful feeling to know that you had no control over your life, but she couldn't be consumed with self pity. There were just way too many things on her plate. So she continued on and tried her best to enjoy what she had with the people who cared about her. It was times like those, to help pull her through, when she thought about how lucky she really was. If it wasn't for the strong connection that she shared with the team then she didn't know where she would be.

Granted it was true most friends didn't save each others lives every other day, but it was _because_ of that reason that they shared their incredible link with each other and she wouldn't give up that privilege for anything in the world. Though if she had thought things were bad at the time, then she was sorely mistaken. It happened on that god-awful day when their powers had been stripped from them, Zordon had been captured, and they were left with the choice to leave earth to its fate or search for a new power to free Zordon. Their decision came in that moment when they all decided to go into space.

The day they came back though was when the complications started and when they all decided as a team that it was time they let their parents know. It would have been impossible otherwise. Her situation unfortunately was much more complex, her friends were telling theirparents_,_ where as she barely knew the people she was living with, how could she trust them?

In the end because her frequent absences and no explanations continued to get worse they decided it best to put her in a foster home. She of course wanted no part in it and made up a convincing cover story that she was planning on moving back with her parents. At the time they had only known Andros for a week, but she was desperate and tired of worrying about something that she shouldn't have to worry about; so she brought the few belongings she owned to live on the Mega Ship.

That's where everyone usually spent their time anyway, in fact it was preferred that they sleep on the ship, but when opportunity granted itself they would all go back home to spend time with their families and catch up. She never did though. Andros had to have noticed her lack of participation when it came to going to her own home but he never questioned what she did and she was grateful that she was able to keep some form of privacy and independence in her life.

Walking over to her bathroom Cassie made sure she looked presentable and then she turned off her light to walk quietly toward the holding bay where they normally ate. She smiled brightly when she saw the familiar dark skinned brown-eyed boy. His head was shaved down to his scalp, and his height greatly outdid her own as well as his toned body from their constant workouts. He greeted her with a warm smile, "Morning Cassie,"

"Morning TJ, hey Carlos," She offered as she walked over toward the Synthetron. After she pushed the right combination of buttons on the keypad she opened the door beside it and took out a bowl of hot oatmeal and a coffee mug. Carlos sat across from TJ absently eating his cereal and reading the paper. Without comment to his lack of good morning she sat down next to TJ and dropped a spoon in her bowl.  
"So how did you sleep last night?" TJ asked taking a bite of his toast.

"Fine I guess." She said sipping her drink and taking a quick look at DECA. TJ seemed to understand her point and he gave DECA a look of his own.

"I know the feeling." She giggled but before she could say anything else Ashley walked into the holding bay.

"Morning guys," Her presence was impossible to mistake, you could say that Ashley was the heart and soul of their team. Opening the door to the synthetron Ashley grabbed a bowl of cereal and went over to sit down next to Carlos, "So what are you guys up to?" She asked as she situated herself on the stool. Carlos finally closed the page he was reading and looked up.

"Breakfast what about you?" He tossed the paper onto the table. "Not much just enjoying the morning." The look Carlos gave her openly showed how unconvinced he was by her answer.

"Come on that cheerful mood of yours can't be from just seeing you would still be sleeping right now if we didn't have to spar this morning." Ashley didn't say anything at first and the dreamy look that went into her eyes couldn't be missed. When she gazed back at him a grin came across her face.

"I guess I just feel good this morning." She shrugged her shoulders and conveniently looked down at her cereal as she took another bite. No one decided to comment on it and pretty soon it was forgotten when they started having a typical breakfast conversation. Though it didn't last long when the discussion turned into what Astronema's newest plans of action could be and even then they didn't go into detail because of the announcement DECA decided to make.

"Rangers your presence is requested on the bridge."

NEW POV

When they all walked onto the bridge the first thing TJ noticed was Andros standing over by one of the consoles. He looked different somehow almost worn out, he hadn't looked up or acknowledge their presence, but continued to stay consumed by the data pad he held in his hand. Stopping where he was TJ turned to watch his teammates file in from where they had just finished eating breakfast. Cassie was first to enter after him as she walked to stand in front of the consols that Andros was behind. Ashley followed her position and stood next to her, and Carlos filled in the gap between him and Ashley.

Turing to look back at Andros he saw that he was staring at all of them now; the data pad seemingly forgotten in his hand.

"Good morning I was hoping to speaking with all of you." His voice though was just as strong and forceful as always, expressing nothing to what his actual physical appearance showed. When he was satisfied that they were all paying attention he continued. "Last night I realized something and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to recognize what has been happening but I need to address this." TJ furrowed his brow and slid his gaze past his friends. They were just as confused as he was; all of them except Ashley who was looking at Andros expectantly.

"We've been living with each other for almost two months now and I just wanted to say…" He paused in mid sentence and TJ couldn't help but think how disconcerting it was to see Andros uncomfortable. "I just wanted to say that I'm…sorry for the way I've treated you." He raised his eyebrows at the statement. Quickly he suppressed his surprise and looked at the other ranger with respect.

"I'm not making excuses I just wanted to let you know that things are going to change starting now." That was when Andros made eye contact with each of them showing how serious he really was, but for some reason his eyes lingered on TJ's with a silent question. Andros knew that he had been the former leader of the Turbo rangers; even though technically being the leader wasn't his responsibility anymore for some reason he just couldn't let it go, not with the way things had been going.

When they had all become teammates and Andros started taking over a sense of resentment had come over him. He wanted to dismiss it immediately but he couldn't help feeling that his team had been taken from him. But today he could see it clearly; Andros was apologizing and _asking_, not demanding, if he could be the leader of his was finally time for him to step down and let go and he felt that he could do that. All the things that needed to be said were in that moment, so he inclined his head answering Andros' silent question of trust.

"Good, now I want to do something different this morning. Since we're planning on searching for Zordon…together, you need to learn about how the universe _really_ works. I've seen a little bit about what you know regarding space and…" He faltered unsure of exactly what to say.

"And…?" Cassie asked urging him on. Andros switched the data pad to his other hand and he looked at her squarely, "You have a lot to learn." TJ signed without meaning to, he had figured as much; this was going to be a long morning. "You do know about different species existing on other planets since you've had dealings with the Aquitians, right?" Andros looked to him for conformation and TJ hesitated caught off guard by the question.

"Uaaa…the…rangers that had the Turbo powers before us had more of a closer relationship with the Aquitians than we did, but we do know they exist, yes." Andros nodded his consent and decided to continue, "First off you need to understand where we are in the universe." A map then appeared behind Andros on the viewing screen and the boy in red walked over toward it*. The sun was shown in the center with seven solid lines shooting outward hitting the edge of the screen. Within each of these sections that the lines blocked off were other planets that had been arranged over several circles expanding farther and farther from the sun. Instantly TJ recognized their own planets from their galaxy but at the same time wondered where all the other planets had come from.

"This is the Milky Way galaxy as it really is." Andros said pointing to the map. Quickly TJ glanced at his friends hoping that he wasn't the only one feeling shocked about this new revelation.

"But they're so close," Carlos pointed out, the tone in his voice showing his skepticism, "How can Earth not know that other planets and life forms exist?" The others nodded in agreement and he too wondered where this was going.

"Just listen." Andros said patiently. "We are in the Omega Quadrant which is a vast territory that only four galaxies can cover. The Inquiris, Gallifrey, Kirassa, and Milky Way are the galaxies currently existing in the Omega Quadrant. The territory goes even smaller when you look at the breakdown of the different galaxies. Each galaxy is divided into at least three systems and at most has gone up to around eight or nine. The Milky Way has six known systems and inside each of them is where the planets are separated out in." Andros turned around and started pronouncing the names of the systems at the same time pointing them out on the map. When he was finished there was silence in the room and for a few moments no one said anything until Ashley shifted at Carlos' side.

"But, I still don't understand why we can't see them? If they're there as you say they are then why hasn't earth picked them up on radar?" Andros turned around at that statement and looked at them. He didn't seem annoyed with Ashley's question, which TJ found surprising, but he wasn't looking at her either.

"What I mean is that even if they were looking for other planets earth wouldn't find them anyway. You can only see the planets that are in the system _you_ are in. All other planets physically cannot be seen unless you enter in various codes and find the gateway that can take you there. Right now we are in the Gaia system. But as everyone knows planets don't stay in one place. DECA?" Andros turned his head toward the computer and instantly the screen changed to show the planets moving around the sun.

"The orbit patterns of the planets are a little complicated. Planets in other systems have a possibility of having similar orbit patterns to other planets that are in different systems but also in the same galaxy." There was another long pause as they all stared at the screen trying to analyze what was going on. Cassie was the first who decided to break the silence. "But if what you're saying is true. Wouldn't that make the planets…," She paused looking at Andros doubtfully, "Run into each other?"

"Exactly, but remember the planets are constantly moving around the sun as well as spinning on their own axis so when it does happen a planet usually ends up…changing." After hearing that, TJ wasn't able to suppress the hesitance he felt toward believing the matter, but Andros didn't say anything to come up with a better explanation. "Changing how?" He found himself asking, and the red ranger gave him a rueful look.

"Depends, some planets just lose gravity sometimes nothing happens at all. Others though can go through such a change that the atmosphere becomes completely unstable. It's unpredictable."

"So then how long does it last?" Ashley wanted to know.

TJ noticed Andros glance at her briefly then quickly looked away. _"What was going on between them?_

"It can go from taking a split second to hours at a time, which is probably why some planets just can't sustain life." After hearing that last comment, TJ gave Andros another doubtful look. He had had just about enough learning about space. That is if he learned anything at all. It was understandable he supposed, but believable?

"Once we start using it more you'll understand it better, Right now I've looked at some possibilities of strong energy readings in the Degobah system." Andros then walked over toward his consol.

"What we need to do is find out what we're looking at." He said pressing buttons on the consol. "Let's start with Scandola and scan the whole planet so we can find out where this energy reading is coming from. DECA monitor earth while we go through the gateway." Taking the hint TJ shrugged his shoulders at the others and shifted over toward his own consol.

NEW POV

They had just gotten back into orbit with Earth. All day they had been working on Scandola; scanning certain parts of the planet confirming just to reconfirm estimates and they hadn't really gotten anywhere, but even so they couldn't expect to find something of value this soon.

They had been together for two months but it had been two months of repairing the Mega Ship and fighting. Astronema had made sure to keep them busy while she tried to formulate her own plans; today however had been rather quiet which was something that they needed, especially since his energy was low. Throughout the morning and afternoon he still felt exhausted, but he knew his power was slowly starting to stabilize. After the morning had passed he didn't feel as drained and the pain in his side stopped bothering him some hours ago.

In the past he could only account for a power withdrawal happening once or twice before, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. But he wasn't sure what was worse when he compared it to his mental state because being around the other rangers morning afternoon and evening had been very tiring. Constantly he was on guard, never feeling exactly comfortable when they tried to include him in their friendly banter, hesitating over a simple gesture of help when it was offered and the continued presence of Ashley being by his side was more than distracting as they worked in silence at their stations.

His form of intimidation was the only thing he used for protection and now that he was trying to revoke it he felt utterly confused and even more awkward around them. Yawning, he leaned back in his chair still on the bridge from the long exhausting day. The other rangers had been dismissed a few hours ago for dinner, but he decided to wait, more than willing to accept this solitude as he pondered his thoughts. Astronema was one of the first things that came to his mind while he sat there. She hadn't attacked today which worried him somewhat; when these periods of dormancy would occur they usually ended when something big was about to happen.

It was strange though the way she approached them in battle. The quatrons in general could put up a good fight but when he thought about how they were _actually_ fighting he came to the conclusion that they weren't. It seemed reasonable for them to retreat when he and the others had the upper hand, but he found it odd that they would pull back when the quatrons themselves had the advantage. And this wasn't just one instance; he remembered it happening on more than one occasion.

It was after the rangers had finished school for the year when he noticed the first change. Most of the places that Astronema sent the quatrons weren't considered normal areas for someone who wanted to conquer a planet. Yesterday's fight though did seem like a reasonable place to take control, it was the most widely visited parks in the whole city. But then again it was nearly after dark and most of the people had fled by the time he had gotten there. He was coming down to the conclusion that she wasn't just after the planet; Astronema wanted something more. Shaking his head he stopped trying to think about it, there were too many variables for him to be able to answer it now.

As he started tracing the design on his locket he sighed and turned his head to face the red eyed camera on the wall. "DECA, did you figure out what we can do with our morphers so that Ecliptor can't use that attack again?" His fatigue was clearly evident in his voice.

"Yes Andros the transfer will begin within a few hours." He nodded content with the answer and decided to briefly close his eyes. When Ashley had left him in his room at 4 this morning he hadn't been able to go back to sleep; how could he? His mind couldn't think about anything except those few moments when she had kissed him, but were her intentions to mean the same thing on earth as it did on KO-35?

She was human after all and he almost couldn't help the thought of her kissing him again. He let the thought linger. As he slowly opened his eyes, a faint smile crossed his features and he stood making his way around the chair toward the door.

"You know that expression looks good on you, you should try it more often." His heart froze and the smile disappeared as his attention snapped toward the door to where she was standing.

"Ashley…" Her presence was unexpected and when she took a step toward him he reflexively stepped back.

"Sorry," She said a little sheepishly stopping where she was, "I didn't mean to startle you." He blinked, "You didn't…" and at the same time he felt his body relax in contradiction to his words. He only just managed to keep from rolling his eyes as he continued to stare at her.

When the silence stretched and nothing further was said she walked away from the door toward him. His eyes followed her until she stopped to lean against the side of the consol in front of him. For a while she stood there not doing anything but stare at the floor, and he wondered if she was waiting for him to say something, but from the expression on her face he could tell that it was better to just wait. She shifted against the consol as she took in a shaky breath; "Hey…Andros," her tone surprised him as well as the guilt that was in her eyes.

"Look I'm sorry about earlier; I…I didn't mean to make things so awkward around us." He almost broke his neutral gaze to give her a look of confusion; _what could she be sorry for?_ "I don't know what happened but…I just…I didn't mean to kiss you." When her gaze went down, his heart sank as disappointment washed through him, but he made certain that his expression didn't change.

"You…you didn't mean it?" Quickly she brought her head up looking surprised by his question. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the words but it wasn't for another few seconds until she actually spoke. "Well…..yeah I meant it but…" She was stammering now and anxiously she pushed herself away from the consol. When her uneasiness became more prominent he decided to speak.

"Ashley," He had gotten her attention at least, but when he started to voice his question he almost felt stupid for asking it, "What…what does kissing _mean_ on earth?" He had expected her to laugh but instead she just bit her lip as she tried to hide a smile.

"It's…it's when someone wants something more than friendship….when they want to be…closer than what you already have…" He could feel his own half smile start to ghost back into place and a feeling in the pit of his stomach took over him when he thought about the next question he was about to ask. "Is…is that what you want?" He didn't know what prompted it but something inside him needed to know, "Only if you want to," His stomach curled into a knot as he thought about how to respond to that. The relationships he'd had in the past, with his family and friends all ended up in disaster, and if that was what was going to happen with him and Ashley then he didn't even want to try. What if things made a turn for the worse like they always did?

"You know," He looked at her as she spoke and her eyes never wavered from his, "Whatever happens know that I'll always be there for you," His gaze shifted away, he couldn't do this, it wouldn't work. It never did. "Andros," She whispered to him and his eyes immediately reverted back. She was even closer now staring impenetrably into him, "just trust me." Her hand reached out to clasp his and he took it without a word. In the instant that they touched a warm and uncertain feeling passed through him almost forcing him to turn away, but the certainty that radiated from her presence urged him on and that was when he knew he had to try.

His heart had been closed off for two years and now that it was open again old wounds were coming back to life as painful as ever. But this time they were finally starting to heal. He was beginning to believe again, and he was starting to have hope. Swallowing hard he whispered back, "I trust you." And he meant it, with all his heart he meant it. When she smiled his other hand found hers drawing her even closer. Then slowly she leaned forward and without a second thought he closed his eyes as her lips met his. Instantly sensations overwhelmed him and he was again frozen in place unable to respond to her touch, but when she started to step back timidly he tilted his head forward to kiss her in return.

It was hesitant and uncertain, and when he pulled away he wondered if she had been disappointed. But before he could gage her reaction her arms went around his waist as she hugged him tightly. Surprised by the gesture he just stood there motionless not sure of what to do, but when he found the courage he lifted his own arms and wrapped them lightly around her shoulders. He smiled again as he laid his head against the top of hers with content. _Was this it?_ He whispered in the back of his mind._ Is this that empty part of my life that I've been searching for, for so long?_

The question went unanswered and the moment was cut too short when he heard a familiar voice shout down the hallway, "Hey, Ash, where are you?" Instantly his heart jumped and his hands jerked back down to his sides. Ashley smiled up at him as she too pulled reluctantly away.

"I'm here." She called out. Turning to face the bridge door she put on another smile while she watched Carlos walk in, but he was still in the same place motionless and unable to take his gaze off of her. "Are you coming? We're all waiting for you." He sounded almost impatient but Andros was too busy looking at Ashley to care.

"Yeah, just give me a minute and I'll catch up alright?" When Carlos didn't say anything Andros couldn't help glancing over at him only to see that he was staring right back, quickly Carlos shifted his gaze back to Ashley with a small smile tugging at his lips. "Sure…see you in a bit then." He noticed Ashley roll her eyes as the black Astro ranger walked out of the bridge.

When he was gone and out of ear shot he turned back to Ashley and gave her a genuinely curious look. "What was that for?" Ashley just laughed only adding more to his confusion and before he could ask she spoke. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this to happen?" She crossed her arms over her chest but her smile was still showing and he shook his head almost afraid to find out.

"Since the first time I saw you de-morph outside the Mega Ship." Instantly his eyes widened with startling clarity. He remembered that day, vividly. That day when he had just barely managed to escape from Dark Specter; that day when he had opened the door to the bridge startled to find two humans staring right back at him. It was the first time that he had seen her and she alone had been the one that made him hesitate in the doorway. She alone had been the first one to show him kindness.

Shaking his head he pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at her with a frown on his face. "But why Ashley, I just…I still don't understand…I mean I was horrible to you and to your friends. I'm sorry…but I just…I don't know anymore…I can't..." She silenced him as she gently put her fingers over his mouth. And slowly she shook her head, "You know they're your friends too if you let them, but as for why?" She sighed and lifted her fingers to brush a strand of his hair behind his ear.

"That's something you're just going to have to accept…because I don't know why, but what I do know is that something inside told me not to give up."

*(check out my website to see map)

16


	4. Objective

Objective

A lone figure sat on the ledge of a window staring deep into the darkness of space. Her black outfit and silver corset was wrapped taut about her covering every inch of skin up to her neck. Looking from a distance you would think her just a girl, vulnerable and susceptible to anything. Her body was thin almost fragile, particularly in the way she was sitting with her legs pressed up against her chest and arms wrapped securely around them.

A first encounter wouldn't normally give someone the impression that she was indeed Dark Specter's second in command, the Princess of Evil. Her hair was short this day, jet black with a silver metal band covering her forehead. She had been awake and sitting there for hours but had no intention of moving anytime soon. This was her time for solitude, and her window was the only place she knew nobody would dare bother her. The rangers had just returned into orbit last night, coming home from an unsuccessful attempt in trying to find Zordon. It had also made it their first attempt in leaving the Gaia system. Over the past few months she had managed to keep them distracted enough to give Dark Specter the advantage he needed to continue his efforts in draining Zordon's powers.

Dark Specter…her hands clenched into fists, she couldn't wait for the day to break free from his dominion. For now she held her tongue and followed under his rule without question, which led her to where she was now. But the domination of Earth and the Gaia system were going to have to wait. Just last month things had taken on a different tactic. Zordon revealed useful information about the planet Earth and she was going to take every opportunity she could find to benefit from it.

Both she and Dark Specter had spoken about this so called weapon, but after thirty days of not harming a single being on earth she was staring to get on edge. Patience though was what she had to have; from what Zordon said, the rangers had no clue that this weapon existed, but when she did find it, evil would be the only thing to live for. So far her hunt was ineffective, Zordon had done well in hiding it but she needed to move quickly because there was another she needed to deal with. Astronema wasn't the only one who had heard about Zordon's secret.

Presently he was occupied by another threat. The Varox, a team of bounty hunters who have been the down-fall to many Rangers and planets in the past, had taken the mission to defeat him. She did not doubt their ability but she also didn't underestimate her enemy. He was a living legend, unstoppable. Footsteps came down the hallway, pulling her out of her thoughts, "Astronema," His dark and intimidating voice warned her that he was coming, "I have sent troops out to find the Praying Mantis," Ecliptor appeared in front of her doorway with his head lowered, "Would you like me to go to earth with a new squadron?"

She thought about it wondering what her next move should be. She had tried searching most of the inconspicuous areas in Angel Grove but all was in vain. Now she was wondering if Zordon had hidden it in plain sight. "No, take no action, we need a plan." She was curious to see what the rangers were going to do next.


	5. Keep Fighting

Keep Fighting

She felt the Mega Ship shake violently as it took another hit, but Andros' voice could still be heard throughout the chaos. "Ashley, give me their trajectory," he said sharply. Ashley continued to stare at her console as she manipulated the screens in front of her.

"They're coming up behind us going at 45 LSP,"

"Alright then set up our weapons, Cassie be prepared to fire when ready," He continued, "TJ, I need you to get as much power as you can into the thrusters and defense array," After the lasers were ready and she announced them on standby, Cassie heard the proximity alarms go off.

"Cassie!" Ashley snapped.

"I see them," she said making a face and without anymore thought Cassie targeted the two rogue ships. She shot the first one down easily, but the other had gotten past her managing to steal a few hits. She hated the tremor that went through the ship, but it made her all the more determined to finish him off. After the fighter had disappeared from her tactical screen all she could see were Velocifighters flying everywhere. She could only pray that Andros would be able to steer them through this madness.

"Periphery shields are down twenty five percent," TJ announced, "And we've got more coming in on our flank Cass." He was right but they weren't just coming from the sides, more and more of them were pouring in and when her next shot went wide she couldn't help the curse that escaped her lips. She trapped them instantly but Andros wasn't making it easy for her. Then, the ship was suddenly thrown forward, nearly taking all of them out of their seats. "Carlos!" Andros demanded, "Find the coordinates of the lead fighter!"

"DECA get the auxiliary navigation console online!" Ashley shouted out while Andros continued giving orders.

"TJ I want those propulsion systems checked; give me updates as soon as you get them." From his stand up position toward the back of the bridge TJ quickly moved to the side console reaching the screens that were connected to the wall.

"Cassie, be ready when Carlos finds those figures we need that ship destroyed." She didn't respond but kept a constant watch on her map listening with half an ear as she forced all of her energy into stopping whatever was coming after them. "Damn" she muttered, one of the Velocifighters had gotten past her again, there were just too many of them.

"Propulsion is down fifty percent and the shields are taking a beating too." TJ informed them as he continued to push his screens left and right across the side console. "Cassie!" Carlos shouted. "Enter coordinates 42.57 to 35.3 starboard." Her hands instantly went to the number grid on her tactical screen. When her target scanner zeroed in toward their main objective she was able to see what they were looking at.

"Firing forward lasers," She declared. The seconds seemed to take forever as the blasts tried to reach their destined target. It was fast but her shots were accurate enough and she felt a slight satisfaction when the lasers finally hit their main target. Quickly she pushed her tactical screen to the side and tried to get a brief glance at the scanned images that DECA had gotten from the ship. She shook her head when she saw the readings.

"TJ," Andros called, "Transfer more power into the weapons module." Not more than a second later Cassie saw more power coming into her lasers. Her fingers then quickly started moving across the console as she brought her tactical screen back up. "Now firing forward and central lasers at main target," She announced and as the beams of light traveled past the string of Velocifighters, they instantly collided into the enemy vessel, but when she looked back at the ships readings it remained unharmed.

"Periphery shields are down 48 percent." TJ informed them,

"I can't get past its shields," Cassie exclaimed catching another enemy off guard and destroying it instantly.

"Carlos, figure out that ship's frequency and have DECA draw a spectral line from its residual energy." Andros said firmly as he yanked the ships controls to the side. While she tried to stay in her seat, Cassie continued to single out and defeat Velocifighters, but she knew they were in trouble. Her posterior lasers were starting to give out, and when she felt the Mega ship rumble again she noticed her rear weaponry functions start to get sluggish.

"I can't track it. There's some sort of Doppler effect that's not letting our scanners pick them up," The frustration in Carlos' voice was clear, but the problem was out of her hands and she knew she had no way of helping him; none of them could. She grimaced as another ship went past her defenses and this time she knew they weren't going to be so lucky. She tensed right before the ship was thrown hard to the side.

"TJ?" she asked tentatively, when he answered she heard the dread in his voice,

"We just lost posterior lasers." She would have glanced over at Carlos could she have spared the time but she couldn't; forcing herself to look down at her tactical screen she continued her efforts in protecting the ship.

"DECA set up the self repair systems on posterior weaponry." Andros put in.

"Engaging self repair functions," DECA repeated. Cassie then pulled another screen in front of her to help her see where she could make her next attack. As she tried to keep her focus she couldn't help but notice Carlos shift at his station and mutter under his breathe,

"…if his wavelengths would just stop changing..." She could tell he was discouraged and tense but his words caught her attention.

"Wavelengths…" She knew about wavelengths, it was the energy that came out of her Satellite Stunner weapon. It would send out signals toward her enemies to freeze them in place letting her finish them off effortlessly. "Carlos!" She stammered as she tried to concentrate on the battle, "Use the wave frequencies from my satellite stunner."

There was a slight pause where nobody said anything, until Andros spoke up, "Do it Carlos, then send an Omni directional signal toward the ship." As they all waited for Carlos' confirmation everything slowly started to get more and more chaotic. Ashley and Andros' conversation together over the interface was turning into a shouting match, while TJ was trying to work simultaneously with DECA to figure out the best way to control the ships energy, but Cassie only had ears for Carlos. The constant banter continued for several minutes and it wasn't until Carlos shouted her name that everyone fell silent. "I can only give you an aperture of about three seconds."

"That's all I need," She responded as she destroyed another fighter.

"Ok, I'm sending you coordinates as well as the calibrations into your lasers. When you get a direct hit you'll have to readjust you're lasers again because his shields are just changing way to fast. I can get the ship to slow down but not completely stop."

"Send the coordinates to me as well." Andros said as he tried to find the lead fighter. "I'll tell Cassie when to shoot you work on the next set of figures."

"Let's do it," Cassie said not hesitating in the slightest. It wasn't long before everything was set, and when she heard Andros' shout to fire her fingers pressed down hard on the console. She was on the edge of her seat as she watched the laser beams shoot toward their enemy.

"DECA show a visual on screen." Andros asked quickly but Cassie continued to stare at her tactical map and when the beams finally hit the ship its energy readings started to spike downward.

"I'm sending you coordinates'." Carlos said as Ashley shouted out a systems check. She fired the lasers again and saw its energy readings go down even farther. She could tell the ship was slowing up and it would only be a matter of time before she had it.

"Alright Carlos last shot,"

"Sending coordinates to weapons module," Carlos said and they all stared at the viewing screen waiting to see what would happen after she fired. As Cassie continued to stare at her tactical screen, she noticed one of the Velocifighters coming towards one of the lasers she had just fired, and it didn't take much for her to know what was going to happen.

As the soldier inched closer to the beam she turned away from her tactical screen and stared up at the main display. She clenched her jaw when its suicide attempt had been successful. The Mega Ship shudder again as Velocifighters continued to fire at them. She hadn't given up hope yet though, the other beam still had a lock on the enemy and Cassie was holding her breath, as it got closer to its intended target.

The leader was still putting up a good fight as it kept picking up speed and trying to maneuver through all his soldiers, but there were too many and just before it would have gotten swept away by the blast the ship ran into one of his own fighters slashing his wing, slowing him down immensely. The laser instantly caught up with him and a ball of fire erupted.

The screen in front of them then suddenly went dark and a green bar flashed across it "Mission Successful". As she read it she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She heard her friends cheering behind her as Ashley enveloped her in a giant hug. Squeezing her best friend back Cassie laughed with excitement. Turning her head while still in the embrace, she noticed even Andros smiling approvingly. The boys across the bridge with grins on their faces high-fived each other and pulled themselves effortlessly into a half hug; nothing like beating a computer simulation to start out the day.

NEW POV

It was a morning like no other with the defeat of their first combat simulation, and while he was looking at their simulated readings DECA had just announced that the Mega ship was picking up an inter-dimensional signal. He couldn't help his curiosity since there were very few beings capable of possessing that kind of energy.

One was Dark Spector…and the other was…well Zordon. Either this was their first opportunity for liberation or they were finally going to be able to have the chance to hunt down Dark Spector and find the answers they'd been looking for. The signal at this point could be weeks old by now, but he couldn't be sure. Inter-dimensional signals were difficult to judge, they were hard to miss but at the same time nearly impossible to find and now that they found one, they needed to act.

"So what do we do first?" Andros turned his head seeing TJ's eyes fixed on him. They were all staring at him waiting for his command. It was their time to finally take action, and their first mission together. He glanced back down at the console he was leaning against and pressed the keys on the control pad.

"DECA find a gateway and take us back to the Degobah system." As he made the announcement Andros glanced back up and studied each of his teammates. They were going to be ready.

NEW POV

No matter how much time he would take looking away from the clock, the hands just seemed to stand still, practically mocking him in a way. After Andros had explained what would be expected of each of them, TJ kept going over in his mind what he was going to do. They had decided to split up and as uneasy as it made him feel he knew that it would be almost impossible not to. Two rangers would go down to the planet surface while the rest monitored them on the ship.

TJ sighed, and pulled the next two wires away from the control panel. The planet, Ikia, wasn't just another place that they could go to and come back. From DECA's information, they had found out that the air was deadly and there was no way they would be able to breathe on their own for very long. DECA had already created a serum to wipe out the venom if things got out of control, but they would have to act quickly if something happened. Another thing that worried him was that they couldn't use their powers, the more power they used the easier they would be to track; and being morphed would give them away. They were going to have to resort to their tan uniforms and oxygen masks.

"TJ…" He started as he heard his name, almost dropping the wire, "Andros has requested the Astro team to meet on the bridge," He glanced at DECA briefly before looking back down at the panel he was working on, "Thanks DECA," he said fitting the two wires together. Finishing up, he closed the panel door and turned to walk toward the lift.

Ever since they had left Earth and met Andros; getting their new powers had become so much more involved compared to their first time. The whole idea of space had made things difficult, but being immersed in the environment had helped, and the power had compensated for a lot of what they didn't know. It hadn't been until Andros explained to them how the Universe worked that he realized how little he still knew.

Adjusting to Andros as a new teammate and leader was another job in itself and despite his reluctance to accepting help; Andros _had_ taken them in. They had trusted him without even knowing him, and when they saw him fight, the team had no doubts that Andros was worthy of the Red Ranger Powers. His ability to see things on a tactical screen, and to be able to understand battle strategies was what made him a good Ranger and a good fighter. It was working together that was the problem. TJ knew they could be a great team, just as Andros could be a great leader, but he still held the idea that he needed to fight alone.

Astronema hadn't been making it easy on them either. Sometimes he felt like they were being smothered, but now she was almost nonexistent, which made him wonder. As the lift doors opened, TJ stepped in and without asking; DECA took him to the bridge. The doors then reopened letting him off; everyone was facing him except Andros who was addressing the team.

"Ashley I want you on interface control, and Cassie on the mega lasers. TJ will pilot the ship if it comes to that." Their leader turned his head to glance in his direction inviting TJ into the conversation; and he stepped forward as Andros continued, "All that Carlos and I are going to do is take a look around. We won't be able to stay down there for more than a few hours anyway if the temperature readings are right. We'll let you know if we find something, otherwise we'll check in every half hour."

TJ tried to think of something, anything to say while Ashley was hugging Carlos. "Be safe." She said squeezing him tighter, "and stay out of trouble," Carlos chuckled and nuzzled her hair affectionately. "Hey!" She laughed moving her head away from him and shoving him towards the blue ranger. TJ couldn't help his smile as Carlos stumbled toward him. Clasping Carlos' hand, Cassie at the same time came around and gave him a hug. "Take care of yourselves down there alright?" He said trying to keep his voice light,

"Stop worrying you guys. We'll be back before you know it," TJ nodded and kept his smile in placed as their hands began to loosen. Carlos then in turn rustled Cassie's hair and she grinned pulling away from him. Then TJ looked over at Andros and his eyes widened at the sight, as he saw Ashley give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She didn't seem the least bit embarrassed as she walked back toward him with a smirk on her face and her chin held high. Quickly he glanced back over at Andros, and TJ saw him pointedly trying to ignore them. He would have bought it if Andros' face hadn't started turning red and he almost laughed aloud, but instead he decided just smiling to himself was probably the better move.

"ETA is five minutes and twenty-eight seconds,"

NEW POV

He hadn't realized how hot it was going to be until he stepped out of the black teleportation stream. High temperatures in general never usually bothered him, but they still needed to be careful. Turning toward Andros, Carlos noticed his teammate facing a different direction and looking at his hand held scanner. As he pulled out his own and slid up the screen, three signals turned up,

"Looks like the easiest way is through that pass over there," Andros pointed over his shoulder and Carlos turned his head to find a cluster of rocks not too far from where they were standing. "Alright then, let's go," He kept his eye on his scanner as Andros walked in front of him but still paid close attention to his surroundings. Everything looked dead; with no plants, trees or even a breeze to ward off the heat, the planet was just lifeless.

Sweat dripped down his brown as they walked on for the next half hour, he could tell that the heat was making him tired and his throat was dry and without even second guessing himself Carlos decided to stop, "Andros hey," He cleared his throat trying to make his voice sound stronger, "Let's stop…we should get some water and call the others…" Andros slowed down and frowned as he looked around.

"Yeah…." Andros sighed, and when he stopped, Carlos pulled out his water to take a drink. He was glad that they listened to DECA when she told them to take water. Carlos had thought it might be a hassle but he couldn't imagine not having it now. Sliding his mask back over his face he switched his scanner back to its navigation screen and started trying to look up the energy feed from the inter-dimensional signal.

"Huh…that's weird…." An error message came up on the front of his screen. He tried entering different codes to override it, but he couldn't change it, "The signal…it just…disappeared…" He tried another series of combinations, "Do you think it's something to do with the heat?" Andros hadn't answered and somehow without him realizing it the red ranger had come up beside him. Carlos didn't really think anything of it while he started taking the scanner apart, at least until he heard him say his name.

Glancing to the side he saw Andros looking around; his face lined with concentration. Quickly Carlos looked ahead trying to see what he was seeing. Just as he was about to turn and ask, he felt Andros stiffen at his side and Carlos' heart clenched, but whatever had tipped his partner off had probably just saved his life. Carlos knew he wouldn't have been quick enough if Andros hadn't grabbed his shoulder, yanking him down to the ground. His eyes widened and he swallowed hard when he saw black charcoal marks scaring the ground right in front of them.

NEW POV

She saw TJ turn around and face the main controls. As she pressed her hand down on her console the keys instantly came to life, "DECA keep an eye on Andros and Carlos." TJ said as he slid his hand across his screen.

"The atmosphere is too dense for the scanners to monitor specific movements; bio-readings of the Red and Black Astro-Rangers are currently in effect," Ashley stood up and moved toward the side console to display DECA's results, but she only had time to briefly glance at the readings before her computer was trying to grab her attention again. Turning her head Ashley saw a red bar flashing at her station, and she frowned as she walked back to her station. Peering down at her screen she slid her hand across the console. It didn't take long but when she realized what was on her display she drew herself up short, "TJ…" she breathed, "Do you see that?" He didn't take long to answer but she knew that he was thinking the same thing she was, "Yeah…it looks like it's coming from port side."

"Velocifighters are approaching orbit," DECA announced, turning what she was seeing into reality. "Radial velocity is 80 LSP; they will be within range in approximately 2 minutes and 32 seconds." Ashley's fingers instantly moved across the console pulling up interface control. "Ashley keep an eye on the shields and weaponry functions; give us power where we need it, Cassie get on the lasers and try to get some of them off our track, and DECA get a hold of Andros!"

The moment TJ finished talking she couldn't help but notice the heavy silence that followed. Everyone was working hard, and diligent, but the quiet that was left in its wake was provoking her worry. She tried to ignore it, but she couldn't help knowing that both Andros and Carlos were walking into a trap.

"Cassie I've got Velocifighters on my right flank and closing in fast!" It wasn't even moments after TJ had said it that the Mega lasers destroyed the two enemies who had dared to get so close. A sudden rumble, though caught Ashley off guard and forced her to pull up her tactical screen. Giving it a quick once over Ashley's fingers jumped to the other side of her console and started putting more energy into their port lasers. The Velocifighters had gotten right on top of them and were taking the advantage.

"The rangers are not answering their communicators." DECA announced. Ashley exhaled sharply and the only thing that went through her mind was that they needed to get Andros and Carlos off that planet.

NEW POV

It hadn't taken him long to realize that they were being watched. He couldn't have been sure at first but now that they had stopped moving something just didn't feel right. Without a word he pulled his mask back over his mouth and silently walked over toward Carlos. As he looked around an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach and he realized that they never should have come. "Car…" he stopped himself mid sentence as he heard a weapon powering up.

Without even thinking he yanked Carlos' shoulder and yelled at him to get down. When they both looked up Andros could see Carlos' shock as he just realized what was happening. "Andros…how did you…" He didn't even let him finish. Pushing himself up he turned around and the first thing he saw were Quatrons with their Q-Blades at the ready.

He knew they were in trouble. Zordon wasn't here, and as stubborn as he could be sometimes he knew that they had no chance of winning against these odds, even with the power. Quickly he lifted up his morpher to see if he could contact the others, but before he could even press a button a harsh voice interrupted him.

"Test your luck and see, but you won't be able to contact them from here." Andros snapped his head to attention and narrowed his eyes, knowing exactly who it was. "And what makes you so sure," He asked, still keeping his morpher at the ready.

"Quatrons!" Both he and Carlos instantly put up their fists in defense ready to take on as many as it took to see this through. "Ha! Do you really think that you can win?" Andros noticed Carlos turn to look at him and when he glanced in his direction Carlos rolled his eyes and turned back. "Do you really think that we're just going hand it to you?"

Andros almost wanted to smile when he saw the disgusted look on Ecliptor's face. "Capture them!" They didn't even have time to morph let alone contact the ship before the Quatrons had surrounded them. Quickly Andros did a back handspring to gain some distance but still keeping Carlos in his peripheral vision.

The moment one came within reach he kicked his leg out to the side knocking him flat on his back. As the next Quatron came up Andros jerked its Q-Blade from his grasp using it against him. Fighting hard he defended himself with his new weapon taking them down easily. Behind him though he could sense someone coming, a blaster powered up and he instinctively cart wheeled to the side leaving the Q-Blade on the ground. The shot had luckily missed him and when he was upright again he turned and using his telekinesis he lifted up his hand grasping the quatron with his mind. None too gently it was lifted in the air and when he cast his hand to the side the quatron fell hard on the ground and remained unmoving.

Quickly he turned around as another Quatron started to fight him and then before he knew it another had come from his other side. As he tried to take on two more he over-heard Ecliptor shouting out to his troops. "Fight! Proceed with full force and give them no chance to use their energies!"

"We'll see about that." He mumbled to himself. Instantly he jumped in the air flipping over his attackers and prepared to morph. After he entered his code he suddenly felt the power flood through him giving him energy that he hadn't had before. Landing on his feet he pulled out his spiral saber and cut through his enemies as if they were nothing.

NEW POV

"Ashley give me a status on our shields, we can't afford to take a hit like that again." TJ said as he pulled the ship around. They were being hammered, the Velocifighters hadn't slowed down since they arrived and both Carlos and Andros had missed their check in times more than twenty minutes ago.

"Shields are down more than 50 percent." He heard Ashley say and when TJ felt the ship rumble the lights in the room started to flicker.

"Bio-readings indicate a surge in energy from the Red Astro Morpher." He swore under his breath, they were probably fighting for their lives right now and he was stuck fighting in an aerial attack that could probably be avoided if only they could talk to each other. "Ashley check the energy cells and see what you can do for the shields and DECA find Carlos and Andros and teleport them back here now!"

NEW POV

"Warning, an energy level drop will occur in basic functioning and environmental controls, do you wish to continue?" They had been down on Ikia for more than an hour now. "Do it DECA, keep all energy focused through the ship's shields, engines, and bridge." Ashley told her. She was worried, only glad that TJ was able to keep such a strong head. What's more, the heat on the planet surface was too much for the ships equipment, which gave them no way to send or receive signals or to use teleportation.

The ship jerked her to the side pulling her out of her thoughts. Taking a calming breath she reset the scanners and took a different approach.

"Mega Ship energy cells are currently undergoing a continuous percentage drop…85 percent…84 percent…83 percent…"

"Ash!" TJ snapped,

"I'm getting it," she shot back, swiping her hand over her screen the ships energy feed promptly came up. Ashley glanced through it quickly and then pulled up DECA's visual images of the ship. As soon as it was displayed a small dot flashed in the middle of her screen and she tapped it with her finger to enlarge the alert. It didn't take long, but the second Ashley recognized what was in front of her she froze. Something had breached the Mega Ship.

NEW POV

His fighting was starting to slow down as he realized that they had just missed their second check-in time. Under normal circumstances he would have been fine, but the heat was getting too strong. Every breathe he took just wasn't enough to satisfy what his body needed and Andros knew that he wouldn't be able to keep fighting like this for much longer.

The ship wasn't responding to his calls either and somehow in the midst of all the chaos Carlos had gotten separated from him. As the next Quatron came up Andros purposely let his defenses down and predictably a metal fist swung at him. Prepared for the attack Andros caught its fist just before it would have hit his face and spinning out of the way he pulled the arm behind its back. The Quatron stumbled a little, and he pushed its arm down hard. Off-balance, the Quatron wasn't ready for him to change his position, and when Andros kicked him, the Quatron easily fell over.

Before he had the chance to turn, another Quatron was coming towards him and instantly Andros pulled out his Astro blaster and destroyed the one that tried to catch him off guard. Looking back up he tried to see if he could spot the Black Ranger in the distance, but he couldn't see Carlos anywhere.

Then suddenly he felt something hit his shoulder and he turned back kicking the Quatron straight in the chest forcing him to fall flat on his back. Another one approached him and without thought Andros grabbed his armor and was about to throw another punch when he heard Ecliptor's harsh voice shout out,

"Red Ranger!" He stopped himself before he would have hit his victim and instead Andros roughly pushed the quatron away and turned around stiffly. "What do you want Ecliptor!" It was then that he realized all of the Quatrons had returned to ranks behind Ecliptor waiting for his call and just as Andros was about to step forward he felt more than saw two of those Quatrons come up behind him.

Andros swung his arm without thought trying to take one of them out but unexpectedly the solider had caught his arm. His hand was then twisted behind his back and when his leg buckled underneath him from a hard kick, he was forced to go down on one knee as his arms were pulled into a painfully awkward position. Rough hands then positioned themselves over his shoulders while two Q-blades dug into the sides of his back, making it impossible to move.

"Would you like me to destroy you now or should I take you to Astronema and assure your death?" He didn't say anything and when Ecliptor circled in front of him, the Quatrons viciously brought him upright forcing him to his toes. Andros gritted his teeth but gave Ecliptor nothing to use against him and as the Q-blades continued to dig into his sides Ecliptor's metal fist went into his gut almost knocking the wind out of him.

"You should answer when spoken to ranger." Ecliptor spat raising his chin so that he was forced to look his way. While the ache in his shoulders started to increase he couldn't help jerking his head to the side releasing himself from the iron grip. Ecliptor paused turning his head to look at him, "We know that you would gladly sacrifice yourself for your noble causes," Eclitpor's sword was then pressed up against his neck, "But what about your teammate the black ranger? Is he worth the sacrifice?"

Andros' heart sank as he realized what he was talking about. _Carlos_…and when Ecliptor lowered his weapon he turned to the side. His eyes widened as he took in Carlos' appearance. A cut had formed on his forehead dripping blood down the side of his face, which made him wonder if he even had the chance to morph. The Quatrons that were holding him had forced him to one knee pushing his head down toward the ground. He hated not being able to do anything. He felt trapped and useless.

"Time is running out Red Ranger," Ecliptor taunted but Andros didn't give any hint to what he was thinking. "Ecliptor what do you want." He asked patiently.

"All you need is to accompany me to the Dark Fortress and your teammate will be free to go where he chooses." With his jaw set he remained firm. He wasn't going to go with them or beg for his freedom, which is what he wanted from him. Ecliptor wasn't known to play games but he did like to know when he was in control.

Then his dark form stood in front of him whispering so he could only hear, "It is your choice." Nodding toward the Quatrons holding Carlos down, Andros noticed a third soldier coming up behind them and without hesitation the soldier forcefully tore off Carlos' breathing mask.

NEW POV

"Cassie watch our backs we can't afford to take another hit like that, Ash I need a status confirmation! Find out what the heck happened to DECA and why she didn't tell us about that glitch! " Cassie listened to TJ's shouts with half an ear as more Velocifighters flew across her screen. She targeted as many of them as she could, but the sheer number of them were just overwhelming.

"My link to the peripheral segment of the ship has been distorted,"DECA announced. She grunted when she missed. Andros and Carlos were still stranded on Ikia and had no way of contacting them, the ship was struggling to fight back with little to no protection whatsoever, they were losing DECA, and an enemy that had somehow attached itself to the hull was slowly finding a way to destroy their home, _her_ home.

Shaking her head she tried to get her mind away from the emotions that were slowly starting to press in on her. Focusing on her console she zeroed in on her next target. It was shot down instantly and just as she was about to fire again she saw something new appear on her screen. It was a one-man fighter but she knew from the looks of it that it wasn't a Velocifighter.

"Unidentified ship is passing through the Ikia sector." DECA announced

"Which side is he on?" TJ wanted to know jerking the ship to the right as he tried to dodge another shot. There was a pause and Cassie watched on her screen as the lone ship flew above and past them.

"The vessel will not assume communication with the Mega Ship." She could hear TJ mumbling under his breath. Her focus was beginning to slip again as thoughts of their current predicaments came back into her mind. She couldn't think of anything practical that would help and all she could see was how discouraged they were all getting.

"Guys, the Velocifighter is hacking into our security systems," Ashley announced.

"Get DECA's energy feed working so she can take care of it," TJ's voice was escalating and Cassie could feel the tension rising when Ashley spoke again,

"There's no time TJ, I'm tracking it now and there's nothing she can do we need to go up there now!" Then all of a sudden a loud echo of metal grinding against metal made its way up through the ceiling of the bridge. She stiffened and all she could think of was that their ship was going to go next if they didn't do something soon.

"Ash it's too dangerous, I can't send you up there." TJ's voice was curt but Ashley would not be put off,

"What choice do we have, we need to do something or none of us are going to last long enough to save Andros or Carlos!" She was desperate, and worried, and even though Ashley's feelings were blinding her from her own safety right now Cassie was realizing that she was the only one who they could spare. As she fought off another Velocifighter there was a slight pause and when she heard TJ's sigh she knew he had conceded defeat, "Alright… Ash please…just…be careful, ok?"

"I will." Ashley said confidently. Out of the corner of her eye Cassie saw her stand up and morph into the yellow ranger. "I'm linking my communicator through the ships bridge." And before they could say anything else she was gone.

As the next set of Velocifighters came in she picked them off one by one destroying as many as she could. She furrowed her brow when she realized that one of them was charging headon. It was the lone ship again. He had come back and just before she could lock him onto her scanners the anomaly had targeted _them_. An alert sounded throughout the bridge and an unmistakable red bar flashed across her screen.

"The Mega Ship has been targeted by the outside force." DECA's voice announced over the blaring noise.

"TJ, get us out of range!" Cassie shouted and abruptly they boosted into high gear flipping over and turning around to try and mislead him, but the lone fighter would not be sidetracked as it came around again. This time it fired; TJ steered to one side and dodged the laser blasts, but continued to keep the pace as he tried to lose it.

"Cassie take him down!" He said and without thinking she reset her controls attempting to target the ship. When the laser blasts were released by her command she waited anxiously as they got closer and closer. She saw them just about to blast its wing until the ship swiftly turned to the side doing a freefall until it was several degrees behind and below the Mega Ship's range. She narrowed her eyes and tried to fire again but it was a vain attempt.

Taking a deep breath she watched the ships' movements, it had lost speed and was trying to gain ground from behind them to get in range, but she wouldn't have it. "TJ pull back." Instantly the Mega Ship halted and it was only instinct that made her grab the sides of her console before she would have fallen out of her seat.

The lone fighter was now in front of them, giving her the advantage and without hesitation she fired. The ship though, saw through it, as it boosted into high gear, and just as her blasts reached the ship, it spiraled forward deflecting her shots. "Who _is_ this guy?" She mumbled to herself, and as she was about to try a different tactic she noticed the ship veer off to the side and then suddenly disappear from her tactical screen.

"Cassie where is he I can't see him anymore!"

"I don't know it's completely off radar. DECA bring up all visuals." She glanced up to see all of the screens on the bridge light up. There were so many Velocifighters surrounding the ship that she couldn't count, but of all the enemy aircrafts she could see, Cassie couldn't find the lone fighter. Quickly she glanced down at her tactical screen again, but it was nowhere in sight. The Velocifighters though were still firing at them and since they had lost their shields the oncoming fire was simply unforgiving.

With fighters flying towards them in every direction, trying to shoot them down, to TJ's occasional shouts, to DECA's complicated responses, everything was just blurring together and then…there was the lone fighter. He came seemingly out of nowhere and coming in so fast that she didn't have time to react.

"Shhhoot…" Her shout almost went unnoticed amidst the chaos but there was no time to prepare as the fighter fired at them again and this time she knew that they wouldn't be so lucky. "TJ!" She braced herself.

NEW POV

The emergency ladders seemed like the quickest and safest way to go through instead of using the lift. When she reached the top deck, Ashley hurried down the hall and found the main control panel. Glancing up at the wall she noticed DECA's red camera light was off. Slowly she crouched down facing the panel. After she had opened it up she almost wished she hadn't taken on the assignment, "Carlos where are you when I need you?" She murmured, but Carlos wasn't here and it was up to her to figure it out.

Lifting her hand, she tapped the side of her helmet and instantly a screen came up over her visor, "Reconnection of AI to control panel," she said, and then an unfamiliar female voice spoke to her. "Analyzing…" Ashley waited as the computer took in the data. "To stabilize the energy feed reinitialize wires HD159 to PR253, and position to main energy cell. Once finished temporarily shut down interface control to stabalize transition," Ashley nodded and staring at the visual on her visor she looked around for the two wires that she needed. They weren't difficult to find and as she linked them to the power source she reached farther in toward the back of the panel to reset the interface. Pulling her hands away she glanced up as she noticed DECA's red light come on.

The camera immediately turned downward to face her, "Thank you Ashley." DECA said warmly, and she couldn't help but smile, "It's good to have you back DECA." The computer paused and then continued speaking.

"The ship's energy feed is below its normal standard, the bridge and engine rooms are on auxiliary power, and mega decks 2 and 5 have been disabled. I am also detecting an enemy ship," Ashley glanced up at the ceiling, standing up, she started walking back toward the emergency ladder, "Ashley, several times the fighter has tried to breach my security network," She could hear the annoyance in DECA's voice, and smiled despite the concern, "Although it has been unsuccessful my circuits indicate that he will soon gain entry." The minute she reached the top Ashley knew that she had found what she was looking for. It was bright where the rest looked cold and dark. The area was long and spacious but she would only be able to reach it if she crawled.

Pressing forward in the dark, she could hear the hum of the enemy ship just ahead. "DECA…" She whispered,

"The main power cords must be dislocated." She heard her say from the inside of her helmet, "Be alert, once the enemy has broken away your time to escape will be limited, I assure you I will do all that I am capable of to maintain your safety." Without responding she could feel the power leading her on. She could see the ship now, not too far ahead. Cables were attached everywhere from the Velocifighter to the Mega Ship. The Quatron inside must have been busy.

Gaining her courage she continued forward until she reached her target and then her hand stretched out towards the first cord. The second she grabbed it she couldn't help the agonizing scream that escaped her lips. Instantly she felt pain shoot through her arm and into her shoulder. For some reason she couldn't seem to let go of the cable, and it wasn't long until her body started to convulse. The power finally kicked in and jerked her backwards hard enough that she was able to drop what was in her hand.

When she opened her eyes she realized that she was staring up at the ceiling. Her breathing was slow and shallow and her whole body throbbed with the echo of pain that rippled through her, but all she could think about was that if it hadn't been for her ranger powers she could have easily been killed.

Slowly Ashley tired to push herself up but her hands didn't want to move. And so gritting her teeth she turned over on her side. Her hand burned painfully as she shook uncontrollably. She continued to sit on the floor cradling her arm as she tried to get herself to calm down. When she finally stopped shaking she lifted her good hand towards the side of her helmet, "DECA…?" She called softly, gritting her teeth, but there was no answer. When she tried again and there was still no response, she knew something was wrong. Looking at her communicator, she noticed that it must not have survived the electrical shock she had taken. She was alone.

The ship shook again and it was in that moment that fear took hold of her, a feeling that she hadn't felt since her last battle on earth when she had to fight for her life. Closing her eyes she tried to clear her head, but the only thing that she could think of was the unbearable pain going through her entire body. She was exhausted and the sensation she felt from her hand was almost mind numbing, but Ashley knew she had to keep going. She sat up the rest of the way and leaned against the wall that had somehow ended up beside her. The Velocifighter was still there looming in front of her and without anymore thought she yelled out for her Star Slinger.

It appeared in her hand on command, and instinctively her fingers, that were still raw from the burns, wrapped around it. She cried out, tears forming in her eyes from the pain, as she grabbed her wrist with her other hand she hoped not to drop it. Ashley clenched her teeth, pushing herself to keep going. When she finally was able to concentrate enough to shoot, she saw the end of a blaster aimed in her direction.

Panic swept though her as she realized what was about to happen and knowing that she wouldn't be able to move quickly enough scared her even more. She let her weapon slip out of her fingers and without another thought she covered her head as she fell flat on the floor. It was just as she had placed her hands overtop of her when a deafening explosion went off. Fire came pouring through replacing the Velocifighter and leaving a gapping hole in its place creating a vacuum.

She started to push herself back toward her only exit as she felt the wind start picking up. It hadn't taken her long to reach it but she could feel her heart pounding none the less. Quickly she grabbed the ladder pulling herself the rest of the way over. Putting her feet through first, she dropped through the whole without finesse. Her legs didn't catch her when she landed, just simply buckling underneath, making her thankful that she was still morphed. Seconds later the hatch above sealed itself shut. She didn't understand what had happened up there but all she could do was close her eyes and try to convince herself that it was over.

NEW POV

Her hand slid over toward her head as she felt it throb painfully. She must have hit it on the console when she fell down, "The threat has been isolated, hull-breach and explosion are both maintained, hangar bay doors are being released." Cassie opened her eyes, or at least she thought she had since everywhere she looked it was dark.

"What? Explosion! DECA what happened, where's Ashley? And who authorized that...!" His voice sounded worried and she shifted trying to lift herself up. Her movement must have gotten TJ's attention because the next thing she new he was calling her name,

"Cassie...? Can you hear me?" She turned her head slowly toward his voice but everything was still dark. "Morph if you can, you'll at least be able to see," He told her and slowly she pulled her morpher up toward her other hand and punched in her three-digit code. Pink washed over her and the familiar rush of power went through her body giving her the strength that she had been lacking.

"Thank goodness you're ok," His voice was filled with relief and Cassie felt his hand go to her elbow to help her stand. Her headache was nearly gone and when she was on her feet TJ gave her a fierce hug. "Are you alright?" He asked and it wasn't until that moment that she realized how comforting it was to have her best friend at her side. Closing her eyes she gave him a tight squeeze. "I'm ok...what about you?" Just as he was about to reply DECA interrupted him, "Communication with the yellow ranger has been terminated, rogue ship has destroyed enemy vessel and has established contact."

"What?" TJ pulled away giving Cassie's shoulder one last squeeze before turning back to one of the side panels.

"DECA where's Ashley?" TJ asked patiently and Cassie's heart began to sink when she realized what DECA had said,

"…I am unable to locate Ashley's position, her communicator stopped responding shortly after she entered the upper level environment," TJ then turned and looked at her,

"Cassie can you get on interface and search for her power signature?" Cassie moved quickly until she was at Carlos' station. Reaching out in front of her to enter in the processing codes she tried to steady her hands. Waiting for the computer to process she couldn't help wondering how Ashley's connection to DECA could have been cut off at all. She blinked as the readings came up, and as she studied them her eyes widened,

"TJ where was the explosion?" She noticed him stop what he was doing out of the corner of her eye and silently walk over beside her.

"Oh my God…Ashley," The sound of his voice gave her no peace as she felt a heavy weight settle in her chest. "TJ…" She forced her voice to sound firm but she wasn't sure she was going to be able to hold back.

"Cassie…TJ…" She snapped her head to the side the second she heard her name, "Ashley!" She shouted and as Cassie moved toward the door she felt TJ shadow her from behind. The moment Cassie saw a flash of yellow relief washed over her. Stretching out her arms she hugged her friend. "Ashley, thank goodness, are you alright?" She could feel Ashley squeezing her harder as if she were scared to let go.

"The ship is docking," DECA's statement was heard, but went unheeded as she felt Ashley leaning on her instead of actually hugging her. When she saw TJ turn up behind Ashley she could tell he seemed anxious. Ashley still hadn't said anything, but when Cassie pulled back she was finally able to see why. There were scorch marks on her uniform and her gloves were black against her palms and looked as if they had almost been burned off, "Ashley what happened to you!" She was horrified but tried to stay calm for her friend's sake.

"…The Velocifighter…it was destroyed…"

"Ashley…what happened?"

"It's ok, I'm fine," She sounded exhausted which worried Cassie even more. With Ashley's other hand pressed up against the wall she could see her take a deep breath as if she were struggling to gain some sense of balance "Ashley listen to me you can barely stand, you need to go to medical."

"It's ok..."

"Ashley," It was TJ's voice that stopped their arguing and Cassie turned to face him, "You're going to medical as soon as this is done ok?" Ashley was staring at the ground deliberately not looking at him. "Ashley…" He said her name again making sure she understood. When Cassie saw Ashley nod her understanding she turned to look at TJ.

"Let's go we don't have time to wait," TJ led the way toward the emergency ladders and Cassie helped Ashley continuing to keep a steady watch over her. It hadn't taken them long to reach their destination and when they finally arrived they waited for DECA to finish re-pressurizing the next room. A hissing sound followed by the doors' release was heard and the entry in front of them slid open. She followed TJ with Ashley right beside her into a small tunnel, until they made it to the dock that oversaw the hangar bay.

The ship was the first thing she noticed. It was the same ship that had supposedly been their enemy, the same ship that had saved their lives, the same ship that she had been looking at through her tactical screen for the past hour, and the same ship that would haunt her dreams.

She recognized it immediately for what it was and her stomach lurched inside almost forcing her to stop breathing. He had finally come back. After all this time… shaking her head Cassie quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts and her stomach only continued its butterfly effect as she saw the Phantom Ranger climb down from his fighter to make his way towards them.

"Phantom!" TJ shouted in greeting. Cassie tried to distract herself with TJ's enthusiasm as she saw the Phantom ranger nodded without comment. He was exactly the way she remembered him. His black ranger armor remained in place the same as before. Every part of him dark except for the center piece of his chest, where his ruby crystal lay undisturbed. It was his greatest weakness, but it was also his greatest source of power.

"Hey, where have you been, you left us hanging the last time we saw you," TJ's careful banter was hinted at the small amount of truth that they all had been wanting to know. The last time that they had spoken was when they left him on Hurrcuron seriously wounded. But when they had come back for him after the threat on earth had dissipated, he had all but disappeared.

"It is good to see you too rangers. I apologize for my absence, I promise that I will explain everything, but it is imperative that we speak of matters of more importance. Is there a secure location that we may go?" TJ was to some extent in front of her and she managed to glance over at him without having to turn her head. "We can use the bridge," The Phantom Ranger nodded again and waited as TJ took the lead. Nothing was said as they walked toward the emergency ladders and the silence was more burdensome than Cassie wanted to admit. She yearned to ask him where he had been and how he was. She wanted to know what had happened after their short time together on Hurccuron when they were forced to leave him barely alive.

Finally on the bridge everyone turned to face Phantom. He didn't say anything right away, only turned his head toward the door as if he were expecting someone else to walk in. When Phantom turned back his visor looked directly at TJ, "Where is Andros?" He wanted to know. It was a simple enough question, but one that they hadn't really expected him to ask as TJ stumbled for the words, "He's…on Ikia with Carlos," they could all clearly hear Phantom sigh in disappointment, "It is as I feared. We do not have any time, Dark Spector's plan has been set in motion." He took another pause, but it wasn't long before he continued. "You must leave for Earth." TJ had been leaning against one of the consoles and before anyone could say anything he stood and spoke first.

"What makes you think that we need to leave? We're not finished here." TJ asked crossing his arms over his chest. She heard Phantom sigh again and as much as she trusted him she didn't know if she wanted to believe him. "I have spoken with Zordon and eavesdropped on several of Dark Spectors' conversations… believe me when I say this, Earth is under attack." Cassie felt like the floor had fallen from underneath her and question upon question flooded through her mind, but TJ beat her to it,

"Have you gotten a signals? How do you know earth is under attack?" He seemed calm like he always had and Cassie was trying to stay that way, but inside she was feeling uneasy. If it was true then they needed to find a gateway and leave, but…what about Andros and Carlos?

"I have not heard word, no, I have been under radio silence for sometime now but you must trust me when I say that Earth will be over run if you do not return soon." Cassie frowned and before she could say anything she noticed Ashley shift, "But what about Andros and Carlos we can't just leave them here," Her worried voice was clearly heard, and Phantom turned to address her,

"I will stay behind and find them with my ship, but please heed my advice and return, Earth needs your protection now more than ever, you must trust me." Nobody said anything for a moment, and it was then that her mind snapped and she couldn't hold her emotions back any longer.

"You can't go down there by yourself!" She felt all eyes turn to her as an uncomfortable silence filled the room. She almost felt childish for acting this way but she couldn't let it go, "They're in the middle of a war-zone!" She saw Phantom lower his head and it gave her the strength to go on, "There are probably thousands of Quatrons down there just as many as there were Velocifighters up here. You're not a one man army they'll kill you on sight!" She couldn't stop herself as she continued to speak, reprimanding him trying to convince him that he shouldn't go alone, and finally she saw him shake his head in disapproval, "Please just…"

"Cassie…" It was his voice that made her stop talking and she looked at him while tears were starting to form in her eyes. She was scared and was just now realizing how bad things had gotten; everything was falling apart. "I do not wish to argue with you…" His tone wasn't sharp but it scared her nonetheless. She couldn't hide what she was feeling anymore. The situation had finally caught up to her and she was just starting to realize what was happening.

"I know this maybe difficult for you and that you do not understand." He walked toward her as he spoke and when he was close enough he placed his hand on her shoulder giving her comfort in a way that nobody else could have, "I wish to tell you everything so that you may know the truth, but there is no time so please listen, if Earth falls then so does the Gaia system and the balance of power will tip. Evil will win and your planet will be destroyed. If Dark Spector is able to command that much power then there will be nothing to stop him from taking over this Galaxy,"

Everyone was silent and it forced her to push her feelings back as far back as she could. She was glad that her uniform was covering her face. She had never cried with so many people around and she knew now wasn't the time or place. Nodding to the man in front of her she turned to look at TJ. He was staring at one of the side consoles, which seemed almost easier than it would be to look at everyone else right now.

"Do not worry I will bring them back and we will face the threat on Earth together," TJ finally did look up and nodded. It was then that Phantom's hand left her shoulder and she couldn't help but turn back to face him. His lack of presence strangely made her feel empty inside and she almost took a step toward him, but caught herself just before she would have followed.

TJ walked over toward the main controls as Phantom was starting to leave, but the blue ranger's words stopped him in his tracks "Stay safe and come back…we're gonna need everyone," She saw Phantom stop in the middle of the door and he turned around to face TJ once again. "I will." And then he was gone.

NEW POV

"Surrender!"

"No!" His reply was curt as he tried to keep up his front, but his thoughts were turning dark. Carlos was dieing and all Andros could do was stand there and watch. He was starting to wonder if they shouldn't just give up. It would at least keep them alive a little longer and maybe Carlos would be able to get the medical attention he needed.

"Quatrons, take the Red Ranger back to the ship, he is not willing to cooperate here," Ecliptor's sword was pointed to his chest and all he wanted to do was kick it away as hard as he could. And then Quatrons were grabbing for his arms, but Andros stepped back and pulled away defensively. "Ha, you have nothing left ranger, it would be easy just to end this now," Andros eye's narrowed,_ the hell he wouldn't_. He could feel so much anger and frustration building up inside him, because all he could see was Ecliptor thriving in their agony. As much as he wanted to rip that smirk right off his face he knew he had no control over anything anymore. In desperation he looked down wishing that the ground held all the answers, but it didn't and now his next step was to admit their defeat.

"Stop…just stop…I'll come with you, just let him go and I'll come…" Ecliptor glanced over at Carlos, and his smug expression if possible, got even bigger. It hadn't taken long, but when the Quatrons released him, Carlos dropped to his knees and his head drooped forward in exhaustion but he still held himself up. He had been breathing the toxin in for more than an hour and just by looking at him Andros could tell it was taking effect.

Cold metal hands then suddenly wrapped around him and he struggled with himself not to jerk away. Roughly they pulled him towards the other Quatrons and Ecliptor aligned his troops preparing them to leave. Half of the soldiers that were in front of him suddenly disappeared and he knew that he would be the next one to go.

Ecliptor continued shouting orders and just before his signal Andros saw behind Ecliptor a bright light about to engulf them all, and the second it hit the ground a penetrating sound deafened his ears. The next thing he knew he was lying flat on his back. He almost wondered if he was dead. He gave himself a few moments to see if his body would respond and when he thought he could manage it he turned to his side. He expected pain to come shooting through him but none was there and the first thing he saw when he looked straight ahead was the only thing that seemed to matter.

Carlos was not far away and as he looked around he saw Quatrons beside him starting to shift. As fast as he allowed himself to move he pulled himself up and when he still felt no complaint from his body he hurried forward until he reached Carlos' side. The first thing he checked for was his pulse. It was still strong but he wasn't moving. Looking farther ahead he knew that something was happening and he could only hope that that something was the luck they so desperately needed.

NEW POV

"Stay together guys!" TJ shouted. The Quatrons were everywhere just as Phantom had predicted. When he threw his next attacker to the ground TJ looked up trying to see where his team was. Ashley and Cassie had somehow gotten separated from each other but he could still see them from where he was. Slipping his mind back into the fight he noticed a Q-blade suddenly come out of nowhere nearly grazing his neck. He was lucky that time, quickly he threw his leg out tripping the Quatron. Going to the ground with him, TJ went to his knee and jammed his fist into the mechanical chest.

Keeping an eye out he stood up and lifted his hand toward his ear to contact the ship, "DECA any sign of the Phantom Ranger?" He asked throwing a high kick at his next pursuer.

"Negative, I have received no signal from the Phantom Ranger," When the Quatrons had gotten out of his way TJ moved his eyes around to look for the girls. Catching sight of them in the distanced he saw that they had reunited and were now fighting side by side. He watched as they did a complex combination together that had been done on more than one occasion.

Another Quatron started running toward him and as fast as he could he pulled out his Astro Blaster and fired. Instantly his enemy fell, but just as quickly two others were coming forward to take his place. Nothing seemed to be stopping them.

NEW POV

This was the second time she had lost her partner in the fight but now Ashley wasn't even in sight and with Quatrons littering the forest she knew she would be impossible to find. She could only hope that Ashley was all right, because she knew at this point that the power was probably the only thing keeping Ashley going. Cassie stepped to the side grabbing a metallic arm and twisted it behind his back; as hard as she could she gave him a violent kick, which forced him to stumble in the opposite direction. Shoving her next attacker out of her way she looked behind only to see more charging for her. Instincts told her to turn and run but the second she did Cassie was knocked square off her feet. Her teeth rattled the second she hit the ground and as she pushed herself up on her elbows the first thing she saw was the sharp end of a Q-Blade being thrust in her direction.

Impulsively she rolled away, and the Quatrons that had been some distance behind her had now caught up. Cassie jumped to her feet and quickly started trying to fend off her surrounding fighters. She was being cornered and with none of her friends around she knew nobody would hear her call for help. It was one Quatron after another throwing hit after hit; she was barley able keep up as her confidence was starting to turn into panic. She was being cornered and as fast as she could she pulled out her Astro Blaster to keep them at bay. She couldn't remember how many countless times her weapon had saved her in a fight but she didn't know how much longer she was going to be able last against these odds.

She knew from the beginning that her weapon was only going to get her so far, but before she could do anything a Quatron bowled into her from behind. She squeezed her eyes shut tight knowing full well what was in front of her. And when her body was rammed against the rough bark of a tree it jarred her to such an extreme that her blaster slipped through her fingers and landed on the ground. Cassie forced herself not to concentrate on the pain and only thought about staying in motion. With the Quatron's hands only on her shoulders she quickly crouched down, lowering herself until she was balanced enough to shoot her leg out from underneath and knock down her pursuer. Standing up quickly she expected another attack and a sixth sense told her to duck. She felt something being swung above her and when she stood back up she grabbed the arm of the off-balanced Quatron and punched him hard in the torso.

Another Quatron came up to attack, but her next block wasn't strong enough to defend herself, and she grunted when a metallic fist jammed into her side. It left her defenseless for only a moment but that moment was enough to give another Quatron the advantage. She tried to deflect it, but it was weak and the sharp pain that went through her back was enough to drop her to her knee. She could feel her power strengthening her from her sudden drop in energy, but the next blow made her breathless pulling her closer to the ground. The only thing she could think of to do was to bring her hands up to protect herself from the next attack. She waited--but it never came. Moving them hesitantly all Cassie could see was a black blur moving too fast to recognize. But she had no doubt in her mind who her rescuer was, hitting Quatrons right and left the Phantom Ranger threw them out of the way as if they were toys.

He seemed angry as he tried to take his frustrations out on whoever was in front of him and the dozens and dozens of Quatrons that had been after her now were lying on the ground. The last few that remained standing were still fighting him hard and as he threw his last punch she flinched hearing his hard fist strike against metal.

He didn't go to her at first just stood there staring at the Quatron that now lay motionless on the grass. He was breathing heavily, with his shoulders slumped and head bowed until he finally turned to face her, "Cassie…" He was still panting but she could hear the worry etched in his voice.

"I'm….I'm ok" She hated the way she sounded scared and defenseless, but she didn't dare say anything more almost afraid of how the words would come out. And without a word the Phantom Ranger walked toward her and reached his hand out to help her stand. She took it automatically, and once she was on her feet she had the sudden desire to embrace him like she would TJ. She stopped herself just before and instead looked away. At the same moment he released her hand and a similar sadness that she had felt earlier accompanied it.

"We must find the others." His words almost startled and when she turned to look back at him trying to see if she could figure out his expression she couldn't help asking,

"…Are Carlos, and Andros safe?" There was a long pause and Phantom chose that moment to look back at her,

"We have much to discuss."


	6. The Truth

The Truth

He had no idea where he was but he could feel his body trying to reject whatever was inside him. He felt exhausted, weak, and feverish. His hands wouldn't stop shaking and his breathing each time he inhaled made the heaviness in his chest more unbearable. The power inside him was trying to fight off the effects the fight was killing him expending all his reserves, he didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to hold on.

He could hear people talking around him and when he finally got himself to open his eyes he wondered if what he was seeing was real. The Phantom Ranger was staring down at him and vague images of all his teammates were standing beside him as well. He closed his eyes again trying to see if he could focus, but before he got the chance to open them, he felt someone pick up his arm and instantly a stab of pain went through his wrist.

He threw his head back and involuntarily his mouth opened even though he was forcefully trying to clench his teeth. His whole body was tense as his back arched upward off the bed. The pain was excruciating and he wasn't sure when it would end until numbness started to settle into his arm reaching up to his neck, through his chest and then his body slowly started to go limp. Darkness surrounded him once more.

NEW POV

"He is stable for now, and in better condition then what he once was." He felt himself breathing a sigh of relief but he knew that Carlos wasn't in the clear yet. It had been a miracle that they were able to get him here in time, and TJ still wasn't sure if he knew how it happened.

"Rangers, I know that you have every right to want to be at your teammates side and see him safely recovered, but there is much we need to discuss and we cannot afford to lose anymore time." The legendary Ranger was insistent; and as much as TJ didn't want to leave Carlos, he also knew that the Phantom had a reason for being here. He was taking time that could be spent elsewhere to help them, which told the blue ranger that it had to be important.

"Then we should go to the bridge," He heard Andros say, "DECA let us know if Carlos wakes up or if there is any change in his vitals."

"Certainly Andros." And so they all left the infirmary with Andros Ahead of them all.

Walking out of the lift TJ saw everyone starting to sit down, but Phantom stood over in a far corner so that everyone could see him. Ashley had been the last one to come in. She took her time and made her way toward Andros in the front of the bridge. Everyone could tell that something was wrong with her, and he could tell Andros looked worried. He was a little anxious himself, he knew she was hurting, and it made him wish he had said something while they were in medical. He had been letting this go for too long and if they didn't act soon she could end up lying next to Carlos.

"…After I had left Hurccuron as you know I was badly wounded. Even after several weeks I was still feeling the effects of Astronema and Ecliptor's attack. It was while you were fighting on Earth when I received a message from my command telling me that they had tracked Dark Spectors' new location. I apologize but I could not wait for your return, and I could not leave you more information than what my message contained; there was too much risk involved. It took me months but I did eventually find Dark Spector, and what's more Zordon was also with him. If I had had the strength, I would have taken Zordon back myself but I could not and I did not have the resources to be able to send out a signal to call for help, without giving myself away."

Phantom then sighed and started pacing the room as he spoke. "Astronema was there as well. They were both interrogating Zordon, and as strong willed as our leader can be; he could not stand indefinitely against the powers of evil. I do not know how long he has endured this kind of torture, but I do believe that this is the first instance that they have been able to compel him to speak."

"But the fault is mine for Zordon's lapse. There was a point where I was almost discovered and Zordon, knowing at that point that I was there, divulged information to divert their suspicion. I wished things could have turned out differently but the information that was told no ranger has ever heard. So you must understand that the forces of evil also know what I am about to tell you and have known this for much time now."

"I could not find you sooner because my escape did not go unnoticed and the second I was discovered Astronema sent a team of Barox after me and it has been weeks that I have been trying to lose track of them and a fortnight since the last I've slept but I was finally able to escape."

Cassie shifted, "You said that the Gaia system would fall if Earth wasn't protected? What did you mean by that?"

Phantom nodded his agreement, "Yes, Zordon has hidden a weapon on the planet Earth, one that could destroy this galaxy if put into the wrong hands, and could take over the universe if used in the right way. We must make sure that evil does not harness it."

"Why would Zordon create a weapon with so much power that it could easily fall into the wrong hands?" Ashley asked. TJ saw Phantom shift his attention to Ashley,

"Zordon did not create this weapon. It is from the old world of evil times. When Malival, a ruler before Dark Spector's time, lead. Another being similar to Zordon, Janesson created it to defeat Malival, but before the weapon could be completed Malival corrupted it, and instead of its sole ability to be used for good, evil as well had the ability to wield it."

Zordon and Janesson defeated Malival with the assistance of this new weapon, and so then it was put to rest until it would be needed again. It was placed on a planet that had never seen war from other galaxies, staying dormant for the time. It wasn't long after, when Dark Spector came capturing Janesson; he tried to find out where the weapon had been hidden by torturing him. If it weren't for Zordon coming at the right time to heed Dark Spector away, the weapon would have been discovered. In the end Janesson did not survive the attack and Zordon was left alone to defend all that was good. But this weapon still remains hidden, with its incomprehensible power."

There was a long pause, where no one said anything. He noticed Ashley take a deep breath and close her eyes. TJ could only imagine what she was thinking because she had to have come up with the same thing he had.

"If you have not guessed it yet, Earth is the planet that was chosen to hide this weapon. It was the preferred choice, because of its reputation for peace and ignorance of known matters throughout the Universe. Being that Earth is the only planet in the system that has life it was assumed that it could easily be left alone, but times have changed and the forces of evil have found value in Earth and Gaia. What was thought as protection and invisibility from evil has now turned to make it weak and vulnerable. If they are able to conquer this planet the system then goes with it and there will be no doubt that they will find the weapon."

No one said anything. He didn't want to think about how much responsibility The Phantom had just put on their shoulders. They weren't just talking about their planet anymore they were talking about the whole system and galaxy. What ranger team could handle that responsibility? He was trying to remember the diagram of the Milky Way Galaxy that Andros had shown them a few days ago. If both the Dark and Gaia Systems fell to the enemy then it wouldn't be too hard for Dark Spector to take control of the Degobah System as well.

He turned his head to look at Andros and could see his face pulled in concentration, "And who's to say after that, that Astronema wouldn't find the Kerova System a good base of operations?" TJ could hear sarcasm hinted in Andros' voice. Phantom turned toward the red ranger and crossed his arms. "The Degobah system would also be an easy target, but I wouldn't be surprised if Nebula went down first since Eltar has already been taken." Nobody said anything, because everyone knew that Eltar had been their strongest safe hold and Zordon's home. TJ could feel a huge weight settling in the room.

It was Cassie who finally broke the silence easing into another topic; "Why didn't you contact us while we were fighting, we could have helped you more if we had known it was you?" TJ raised his eyebrows as The Phantom spoke, "At the time I could not afford to give my position away. It was necessary that my communication remain silent so that Astronema did not know where I was. Hopefully she believes that I am still under the pursuit of the Borax but seeing as I fought on earth she might already know that I escaped. I am sorry if I offended you but it was the only way."

TJ looked at Cassie when she spoke again, "Thank you by the way," The Phantom Ranger glanced up to look at her. He tilted his head to the side giving away his confusion. "I mean for taking care of that Velocifighter." Her small smile made her eyes light up and when he looked back at the Phantom Ranger he saw him nod in return understanding her sentiment.

Before anyone said anything else Ashley shifted in her chair and abruptly stood up. She walked out of the bridge without saying anything not even trying to be subtle, which left everyone to stare after her in silence.

NEW POV

The moment she knew she could be free, Ashley walked out of the bridge as quickly as she could and out of sight. She didn't have a plan but it just seemed important to get away. She hadn't wanted to hear about what had happened with the Velocifighter and it's destruction, because she was still trying to get over the fact that she had lived through it. She had been right there in the midst of it all and her memory of it was still so powerful.

Continuing to walk forward, she found herself in front of the same corner where she usually found Cassie deep in thought. It looked very inviting, especially since her head was starting to hurt again, worse than before, and her hand, which hadn't seemed to bother her earlier, was burning at her side. It was part of the reason why she didn't want to demorph right away because she wasn't sure what would happen.

Trying to ignore her physical needs she sat down, and the first thing that came to her mind was that they weren't just dealing with the threat of their own planet, and things weren't as simple as they use to be. Her next thought was one that had plagued her since the moment it happened and Cassie's gentle reminder made it all the more real.

She had almost died today…

NEW POV

Andros walked down the corridor not knowing why he was following her but he knew something was wrong. Things had been fine when the team had been talking with Phantom, but towards the end she seemed distracted. He was worried about her the moment he saw her. She was still morphed sans helmet, but her face looked pale and the burn marks on her gloves were nothing to scoff at. They were one of the first things that he noticed when he saw her after the fight. Something had happened while he was gone and he intended to find out what it was.

He stopped in his tracks and knew that his suspicions were correct when he saw her sitting by a window staring out at the stars. She looked sick, and her burn marks seemed worse looking at them from where he was standing. It made him wish he had said something the instant he saw her. She needed to go to medical, but he didn't know how much he could push her at this point. It had been so long since someone had needed to lean on him, and for some reason he longed to help. He wanted to be able to give something back and show her how much she meant to him because of what she had shown him.

Hesitantly he walked in her direction and just as he was about to reach out and touch her shoulder he stopped himself. He felt as if he was invading and possibly overwhelming her, but something told him that she needed someone close by.

"Ashley?" He saw her flinch from the broken silence. _Had she really not known he was here? _ She didn't turn to face him but continued to stare out the window and it made him feel all the more empty inside to see her like this. As gently as he could he reached out and placed his hand over top of her shoulder. He could sense her tension even before he touched her. It hadn't been long, but when her hand gently clasped his it gave him the courage to speak again.

"Ashley what's wrong?" He could see out of the corner of his eye tears starting to run down her cheeks, he panicked not sure what to do, but purposefully remained calm on the outside so as not to make her uncomfortable.

"Ashley….?" She swallowed hard in an effort to calm herself, but she was struggling. That was when he decided to kneel in front of her. He looked into her eyes and only hesitated briefly before he decided to start brushing the tears away from her face. As she started to speak he wasn't surprised at how torn her voice sounded.

She was scared, terrified in fact. He didn't blame her though, because he was thinking about Carlos, in the medical bay, comatose. TJ and Cassie seemed to have fared pretty well, but when Ashley admitted what had happened to her it was near torture for him. Before he was able to change his mind he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

He remembered feeling, just how Ashley felt, when he was first testing out his powers, terrified. She was still so innocent and full of life and hope. And if he admitted it to himself he knew it was probably one of the reasons why he liked her so much, because he evied that in her and loved to be around who she was.

"It's ok Ashley…." He put his hand on her head gently brushing her hair with his fingers, "It's over and you're safe. We're all safe." He heard her exhale sharply and could tell that her tears were still coming. "Shhhhhhh, its ok" He whispered soothingly. It seemed to work, and after a while she started calming down.

Soon he felt her arms loosen their grip and her breathing starting to become slow and deep. She had fallen asleep. Waiting a few moments more to make sure, as carefully as he could he cradled her in his arms. She felt weightless as he shifted her into a more comfortable position.

"DECA, can you teleport me to the medical bay." Instantly he saw a shade of red and yellow and then the infirmary replaced the window that had been in front of him. Gently he walked over towards one of the beds and laid her down, cushioning her head.

Taking her hand in his he pulled off her Morpher and instantly her uniform faded. Her flight deck uniform was torn where her hands showed the electrical burns. Setting her Morpher down beside her he gently pulled her out of her flight jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt.

NEW POV

Everyone had scattered after Phantom had spoken with the team. She didn't know where they were going but it didn't seem to matter at the time, because she was finally alone with the one person that she wanted to be alone with.

"But I don't understand… How can you just…leave?" His head turned down almost guiltily but with his uniform covering his face it was hard to tell.

"I wish you would not ask. Please believe me when I say it is for the greater good." She almost glared at him for that.

"How do you know?" She said frustrated. At that point she knew that her tone had set his response when Phantom's head jerked up and voice snapped back.

"Do not question what I believe to be true and what should be the best for both of us." She felt her cheeks burn and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach. That was the first time that he had ever snapped at her. Trying to ignore her feelings of hurt she focused on his words, because what gave him the right to decide what was best for her? She felt like they had been back and forth with each other since the first time they had met.

"…Why are you fighting this?"

NEW POV

He couldn't look at her, what came across her face, the way she reacted; it was going to break him. She didn't need the burden of his feelings.

"Please Cassie…. You don't know what you're saying." He needed to convince her that this wasn't the time and that what they were doing could put them both in danger, especially her because of who he was. But why was it so much harder to say out loud.

When he noticed her step towards him, he involuntarily stepped backwards. He knew what he wanted in his heart, but he also knew what the galaxies needed of him. Evil was taking a whole new step to power and the closer he got to her now the more difficult it would be for him to leave.

"Cassie you must understand…. The forces of evil are becoming more powerful, too powerful. I must return to where I can be of most use." She didn't pause,

"That's ridiculous. You can't expect to be able to handle the responsibility of everyone yourself! What about _your_ happiness; and the goodness in you? Why are you denying yourself?"

He didn't know what to say, he hated his hesitation. Why was it so much easier to talk politics than it was to talk to who was probably going to be the love of his life? But he knew he needed to stay strong for her sake, "Phantom…." He looked up to face her, "What happened that made you think you need to take care of everyone but yourself?"

He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Cassie was walking towards him again and he found that he couldn't move. "You can't expect that of yourself. No one person can take on that responsibility."

"I have too…" He whispered and Cassie signed again; she was in front of him now. He swallowed hard. He knew that she was going to break him. It was only a matter of time.

NEW POV

He was laying down on his bed with his eyes closed trying to calm his mind. Astronema had really given them a beating and he was just as happy to try and be normal for a few hours. He felt like it had been the longest day of his life and they hadn't even gotten close to finding Zordon, and Carlos had ended up in the infirmary because of it. But was it because he turned his back on them? Had he done the right thing?

He had abandoned two of his teammates on that planet and he couldn't help but question what would have happened if he had gone after them. So many thoughts were swirling around in his head and guilt was settling in. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep but he had a feeling that it was long in coming.

Shaking his head lightly he forced himself to clear his head. He was tired and concentrating right now was out of the question. He had made the right decision; he just hoped that Andros and Carlos understood.

NEW POV

He jerked his hand away feeling the slight numbness settling in from the live wire. Ashley's morpher had some serious work to be done and since he was sitting here doing nothing he figured he might as well give it a try. DECA would probably fix it when he got bored, but in the mean time it kept him busy.

Andros was facing away from Ashley trying to ignore the fact that she was in the room with him; but he couldn't help turning to check on her every few minutes. He was glad that she was finally resting since she had been so exhausted, and overwhelmed. He couldn't help but feel protective of her at this point.

Turning back Andros continued working, trying not to blame himself for things that were out of his control. He thought about TJ and wondered how he was doing. The blue ranger had made difficult decisions today, and he knew that he should commend the Blue Ranger for what he had done because TJ had done well.

He continued to make progress on Ashley's Morpher until he heard something shift behind him. He turned around and noticed the girl on the patient bed trying to sit up, "Ashley!" Dropping his tools he rushed to her side. "What are you doing?" He pushed her shoulder down so that she was lying back on the bed; she didn't resist.

"I just thought I'd try and sit up." She shrugged her shoulders and he couldn't help but smile down at her.

"You should rest. The power works better and faster if you aren't straining yourself while you're healing." She gave him a half smile back but he could still see exhaustion filled in her eyes, her face devoid of color. _How could he have let this happen, he should have been there._

"What are you thinking about?" She asked softly, confusion evident in her expression. He blinked not sure exactly how to respond. When the silence lingered Ashley lifted her good hand and reached out to touch his cheek. He almost pulled back but convinced himself not to move. It took a few moments but when he felt comfortable he found himself leaning into it and closing his eyes.

"I'm ok Andros." She said brushing his hair away from his face. "Please don't blame yourself for what happened." Her voice was gentle and soothing just like he had been when he was talking to her earlier. "There was nothing you could have done, this isn't your fault."

He didn't know what to say or how she had known but her words comforted him. Her hand then reached out farther, tucking a strand behind his ear. It felt good as her hand lingered, brushing against his cheek. Then all of a sudden before he realized what was happening she was pulling herself closer to him. As her hand had gone around his neck he automatically brought his arm behind her back to support her while she sat up. She kissed him, hesitantly, seeming unsure of his reaction and he let her kiss him. He continued holding her not wanting to let go and finally when he gained the courage he kissed her back as gently as he could. He would have kept that moment forever if he could but she pulled away leaving him with his heart pounding in his chest and an ache that he couldn't ever remember feeling before. Both of them sat there staring into each others eyes and he couldn't help but wonder how she had come into his life.

NEW POV

She knew she wasn't going to get any answers, and she knew she couldn't push him either. Even though his face was hidden, Cassie could tell just by the way he was standing that Phantom was exhausted,.

"Come on." He looked up at her and she thought she could see surprise in his reaction. She was getting good at predicting his expressions.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Its getting late, come on you'll sleep here tonight." He almost looked as if he was going to protest but when she lifted her eyebrows she wondered if it made him think twice. Leading him into the lift DECA brought them to where their rooms were. She immediately went towards one of the guest rooms and walked in when the door opened automatically. Sensing Phantom behind her she asked DECA to turn the lights on and the room lit up.

"If you need anything I'll be right across the hall from you and DECA is always here too." There was a long pause between them until Cassie realized that he wasn't going to say anything else.

"DECA…"

"Yes Cassie?"

"Make sure he gets some sleep."

"Of course…" Cassie turned and gave him a pointed look as she stepped backwards. She walked out and the door closed behind her. She found herself going back down the hall feeling exhausted but she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep just yet. There was so much on her mind and she wanted time to think.

She wished she knew more. There was so much he wasn't telling her, and she didn't understand why. For some reason she felt a pull towards him and in her heart she knew that she couldn't deny it any longer. She had waited too long and she was afraid that if she waited any longer that she would lose him. He was right here but for some reason he was putting himself out of reach. Cassie could feel their connection and she knew that he could feel it too because otherwise he wouldn't have said some of the things that he had mentioned earlier, but he didn't talk about how he felt. Much the way she avoided talking about her own feelings.

NEW POV

He was sitting on the guest bed thinking about what he should do. He didn't understand why he was still here because he was wasting time, there was so much more he needed to be doing right now. His ship needed repairs, Zordon was still out there getting farther and farther from his reach, and he hadn't checked into command like he suppose too. Which could possibly mean that they thought he was dead; but then again this hadn't been the first occasion he hadn't checked in on time.

Standing up he walked over to where Cassie had left, and almost walked into the door when it didn't open automatically. Turning his head he looked up at the AI. "DECA," There was a short pause before she answered, "Cassie insisted that you rest,"

"I do not need to sleep. There are other things that need my attention."

"I apologize, but I cannot grant that request." Phantom sighed, his shoulders deliberately going up and back down when he exhaled,

"As a ranger I demand that you open this door."

"My programming does not extend past the commands of the Astro Rangers." His eyes narrowed. He knew he could easily break down the door, but what would that do besides cause a lot of unneeded havoc. He sat down on the bed again, this time noticing his exhaustion. He realized at that point that he had skipped dinner again, which tended to happen when he was in his uniform all the time. Kaeth worried about him because he didn't eat normally, but there wasn't time, there was so much that he needed to do, Earth needed… His head jerked up.

There was nothing for it; he was literally trapped in this room. "DECA…" His voice wasn't as strong as he remembered it being. "Secure the door and then leave." He glanced at the camera through his slightly closed eyes and when her red light had gone out he lifted his hand up to his chest. His red ruby then appeared in his hand and his uniform disappeared. Instantly he felt his energy drain and he collapsed on the bed underneath him.

NEW POV

"Leave me!" Frustration, anger, irritation, would there ever be a day where she didn't have to live around these robots! She had accounted for everything except the Phantom Ranger coming in at the last second to save both the red and black rangers. He had escaped the Barox, which she hadn't completely thrown out the idea but of all the times to come, she had been so close! She brushed her long blonde hair away from her face while holding her necklace in her hand, the only thing that she had left from her past.

Lying on her bed she continued to ponder what her next plan would be. And the more she thought about it the more she realized how complicated she had made things, when really it was quite simple. What she needed was leverage, something that could put her a step ahead.

"Ecliptor." Her second in command walked into her quarters with his sword in his hand, "Has the Praying Mantis been found?"

"Negative, we are still searching."

"Be sure you find him."

"Yes my princess." He bowed as he walked out of the room.


	7. Together

When her eyes fluttered open she looked up to see the lights dimly lit. It wasn't hard to tell that she was in the medical bay, but for some reason she couldn't remember why. As she tried to shift her position she realized that she was pinned beneath something. It was Andros lying beside her. He had fallen asleep with one arm over her lap and the other holding her hand draped across her stomach and his head lay face down on the bed. She smiled as she stared down at him. He was still in his uniform with his highlighted brown hair now pulled back into a tight ponytail.

Glancing to her other side a look of confusion came across her face as she saw her hand wrapped in bandages. Gasping aloud she shot up from where she lay, forgetting that Andros was even there. An intense fear gripped her chest, and without warning the room had changed around her. Back at the top of the Mega Ship her hand was wrapped tightly around the power cords absorbing currents upon currents of electricity through her body.

Then all of a sudden an arm seemed to jerk her back into reality.

"Ashley?" She was in the medical bay now; Andros squeezing her shoulder and holding her hand reassuringly as silent tears started running down her face. She swallowed hard and turned to face him. Worry and concern were etched in his expression and then she turned away, shaking her head as she tried to banish the memory.

"It's ok. I'm ok" She didn't like the way her voice sounded but she didn't know what else to say, it had felt so real. What was she thinking, it was real; she had been there in the midst of it all. And then through all her mixed emotions somehow she felt Andros lean his forehead against the side of her head and he kissed her temple. Surprise overcame all of her feelings as she turned to look at him. It was something she hadn't expected him to do, and it warmed her heart to see him reaching out to her. He had done the same thing the night before when he brushed her tears away and held her close.

"What?" Andros asked, smiling shyly. She hadn't realized that she was staring at him with shock written on her face.

Blinking, Ashley shook her head again. "Nothing," she said trying to drop the subject, Andros squeezed her shoulder again and stood up without saying anything else. When he turned away from her though she continued to stare at him. Years of him serving as a ranger had made his body hard, lean, and well built. It wasn't something she could easily miss.

As he started to turn back around Ashley wiped the tears on her face away. Then suddenly she felt him take her hand and he pressed a small plastic cup in it. "Here take this, it's a benzodiazepine, DECA says that you use them on Earth."

"What is it for?" she asked looking down at the yellow syrup.

"It's something that will help calm your nerves, don't worry the power should compensate for any side effects." She shrugged and swallowed the liquid, but she realized her mistake only after she had drank. It tasted awful and she noticed Andros smile when her expression turned sour. "Next time DECA you should flavor whatever you put in that stuff." She said coughing. Andros took the cup from her without saying anything and set it back down where DECA had made it. Turning back around to face her he crossed his arms. "How are you feeling?"

She blinked, looking down at her arm. She hadn't really noticed. The pain in her hand and arm wasn't hurting as much as it had the day before. It was now down to a dull ache and her headaches and feeling of weakness had stopped completely. "A lot better actually."

Andros nodded "I expected as much. You were dehydrated, DECA and I gave you some IV's for fluid." Glancing down she looked at her good arm and noticed a bandage wrapped around her elbow. "She also gave me some ointment to treat your burns, and something that would help stop any infection."

"Penicillin?" she asked curiously.  
He shrugged, "Something like that, it was actually produced on KO-35."

She lifted her eyebrows, "Oh…"

"You'll be good to walk around today if you're up for it, but don't push yourself all right?" She stifled her smile noticing the protective tone in his voice. "You should be able to take off those wraps by the end of the day and then we can put some more ointment on your skin, you might not even need it if the power does its job." She nodded and then when she looked up she noticed Carlos lying on the patient bed toward the other side of the room.

"How's Carlos doing?" she asked, but Andros didn't answer right away. When she turned to look at him she noticed that he was staring out distantly at their friend.

"Andros…?" She saw him blink and when he turned to face her he gave her a rueful expression. Ashley shook her head. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. There was nothing you could have done for me, or Carlos. What happened happened, Carlos doesn't blame you, and none of the others do either. Nobody could have predicted that we were walking into a trap."

He shook his head, "I should have known, I should have tried harder."

"And you did Andros, you did as much as you could have done. Don't be so hard on yourself, things happen that are out of our control, you can't expect them to always go right. We make mistakes, and just because we're rangers doesn't mean we're perfect, we just have to remember well enough so that we don't make them again." There was a long pause where Andros didn't say anything and Ashley reached out with her good hand to entwine her fingers in his. Her intention worked breaking him from his thoughts and Andros turned to look at her relaxing.

"I think he's going to be alright." He put in giving her a half smile, "DECA was able to get most of the toxin out of his system last night, now its up to him when he decides to wake up." She nodded relieved from hearing the news. Sliding down off the bed, she noticed her strength was better than it had been yesterday. She still felt a little tired but she expected as much. Turing to look back at Andros she saw that he still seemed troubled. He was staring at Carlos again.

"Andros…." Her voice grabbed his attention.

"Yes?" he was looking at her expectantly, and when she couldn't answer she tilted her head confused. "What were you thinking about just now?"

He shrugged as if it wasn't of real importance, "Just trying to figure out where our next step should be." Ashley rolled her eyes and smiled, but he continued as if he hadn't noticed, "I'm thinking about how we're going to find Zordon and at the same time find where this weapon is on Earth. The thing is, if we go after him, you know Astronema is just going to send Quatrons to your planet so that they can find the weapon themselves, and at this point I'm not sure how much longer Zordon is going to be able to handle being in captivity."

She really hadn't thought that far ahead about what they were going to do and what the significance of this weapon was going to have on their mission. The only option they seemed to have would be to split up, but there just weren't enough of them, nor did they have the resources. They were going to need help, "We should talk to the others."

NEW POV

"Can we run a diagnostic test on the Photovoltaic Cells?"

"Running diagnostic procedure." He slid his gloved fingers across his data pad, it took a few minutes, but when the results came up on the screen the systems all turned out normal. He expected as much since he hadn't taken any major hits during the fight. "Check the engines, thrusters, and propellant."

"Proceeding, diagnostic check on propulsion subsystem."

Taking out one of the side covers from his ship he started to check the environmental systems. As he continued pulling wires he let his mind wander a little and thought about his appreciation towards the rangers and their hospitality. He hadn't slept that well in a long time, in fact he couldn't even remember the last time he had slept on a bed let alone get 6 consecutive hours of sleep at once.

He knew though that he couldn't stay here for very much longer. As good as it felt to have their companionship and no longer having to be alone, he knew if he stayed any longer he probably wouldn't be able to leave at all. Cassie was pushing him and seemed to do it with no reserves. She was coming dangerously close to finding out who he was and what he was hiding. But there were so many variables. The forces of evil were too powerful and he would never forgive himself if she were put in a position to keep his identity a secret or sacrifice her life for it. It had taken him a while to come to terms with what had happened in his past, and if he admitted it he still had nightmares about what happened that day. So the only way to prevent her from finding out was for him to leave again.

"SAM, show me the results of the propulsion subsystems."

"Certainly."

"SAM?" Stopping what he was doing he slowly closed his eyes. He really wished she hadn't come. He knew that he was going to have to face her eventually but he was hoping not to have to do it alone, where he was more vulnerable. When he finally looked at her he wasn't sure what he expected but he certainly didn't picture her wearing jeans and a pink shirt that stopped right above her waist. He swallowed hard.

"Who's SAM? …Sorry I didn't mean to startle you." He shook his head trying to ignore his wandering thoughts while she smiled.

"No…. you did not." Clearing his throat he continued, "SAM is the built-in CPU for my armor and star fighter. She is just as advanced as DECA." Cassie nodded leaning forward to look at his ship more closely and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as it fell forward.

"Do you need any help with anything?" Surprised by the question he didn't answer right away. He only seemed to be able to watch her as she stared at his ship, her arms now across her chest. Slowly he found himself walking towards her. Kneeling down he put himself at eye level and almost without thought his hand went to her shoulder. It was the second time he had done that. It made him feel secure inside, she was still safe, and alive despite all that she had been through as a ranger. And it was all he could offer her despite the fact that they both seemed to want more from each other.

He held out his data pad with his other hand and started explaining what he was fixing and telling her the different parts of his ship. When she reached out and pointed to something, just by speaking his data pad responded pulling up images of what it was. He explained what they did and as he clarified certain points, she knelt down next to him, putting her significantly closer.

He was frozen in place as he inhaled the scent of her hair. His hand was still on her shoulder but he hadn't expected her to be this close. He almost couldn't focus, as she continued asking questions and making comments. He had always wanted to know what it would be like to be so near to her, but he hadn't given thought to how he would react. It was a miracle that he was somehow answering her questions at all.

"So how much more do you have to do?" She wanted to know, and he took a deep breath.

"I am just about finished actually." Cassie nodded still staring at his ship, "So then are you planning to leave?" She asked turning to look at him. He exhaled sharply and finally let go of her shoulder. He didn't want to answer that question.

"You know that I must." She tilted her head and gave him a sad smile.

"Not everything you know has to be up to you. There's always going to be something more, weather it be saving another planet, defeating Astronema… Dark Specter… When does it end?"

There was a long silence as he forced himself not to say anything. There was so much he wanted to tell her and at the same time so much he was afraid to tell her. But he continued the silence and they just sat there staring at each other until DECA's voice was heard. "A strategy session is convening on the bridge. The presence of the Astro Rangers have been requested, and the Phantom Ranger is invited as well." Abruptly Cassie stood up and started walking toward the door to the hanger bay. When he stood up he noticed her turn around to look at him. He thought it was to see if he would follow, but when she hesitated at the door he knew there was something else she wanted to say.

"…I hope you know… I can't wait forever…." And with that she turned and left, leaving him to follow or stay behind.

NEW POV

She could hear TJ complaining just as she and Phantom walked onto the bridge.

"All this so I could miss breakfast?" Cassie noticed Andros first, standing in the corner with his data pad as he ignored TJ's comment and looked to the others,

"The question is what do we do?" When she walked in with Phantom behind her they glanced up.

"What's going on?" She asked looking around the room. TJ was sitting across from Andros in the middle of the bridge and Ashley was over on the other side, she still looked tired and pale but seemed to be acting more like herself than she had the day before.

"We're looking at possibilities." TJ said crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Zordon has been in custody for more than three months. Now we know he's strong, but we still don't know how much more he can take being where he is. And then there's the weapon, which Astronema knows about and if we make one move out of this system Earth will not only be vulnerable for attack but the weapon could also be discovered." She heard Phantom shift behind her.

"Astronema will not attack earth." He said getting everyone's attention, "Right now her only focus is to find the weapon. It would be a waste of time for her to do so especially if she finds what she's looking for." TJ nodded his agreement and then Andros picked up the conversation. "Which means we can't go off and try to find Zordon expecting Astronema not to look for the weapon while we're gone. It's too risky."

Listening to what they were saying made her realize that she hadn't really thought how this weapon was causing more harm than good. At first, the thought of being able to have something more powerful seemed like a beacon of hope; but now in the grad scheme of things, it only seemed to be making things more complicated. And still nobody had said anything since Andros' last comment. It wasn't until she heard Phantom step up behind her and that was when her heart sank, because she knew what he was going to say.

"The Astro Rangers should stay here and protect earth. I will continue my efforts at tracking Zordon. It is what I have been doing since he has been captured and I am not bound by any planet such as you." When she turned around to look at him she saw him staring back, and as hard as she tried she couldn't hide her pain.

"You're only one person; how do you think you're going to bring him back?" TJ pointed out seeming skeptical. Phantom looked away from Cassie and faced the others.

"I do not intend to bring him back. I will travel to Forza, where the survivors of Eltar are in hiding and they will supply me with what I need. I will continue my search for Zordon from there. If I find any sign of him I will send you a signal. I can only hope that by that time you will be in possession of Zordon's weapon. If you come to my aide we may have a chance to thwart Dark Specter's reign over him."

Cassie stepped out of Phantom's line of sight trying not to look at him; her face had grown hard and angry. It wasn't as if she hadn't expected him to say something like that, but it still hurt. Andros was talking to him now, slowly starting to agree with his decision, and the other rangers were wary but were considering the same option. And the more points her teammates brought up thinking that the idea could work, the guiltier she felt, feeling how she did. She didn't dare say anything, knowing that it would only torture her more, and she wasn't sure she would be able to control what came out of her mouth if she did.

"Andros." DECA's voice interrupted, and the conversation stopped. She noticed Andros look up, giving DECA his full attention. "You wished for me to inform you of any change in Carlos' condition." At that point she had everyone's attention. "My sensors detect a sudden modification in his vitals, he should be waking momentarily." Andros stood up from where he was, and walked out of the bridge towards the infirmary with his data pad still in his hand. Ashley stood up and followed, with TJ walking right behind her. Cassie noticed Phantom still standing by the door as everyone passed, but she decided to ignore him and continued to follow her teammates.

Just as she was about to walk out of the bridge, her arm was pulled in the opposite direction. Phantom was dragging her back and before she could question him his gloved fingers came across her lips silencing her. He looked to where the other rangers had gone making sure nobody was coming back and then tugged on her arm again until they were in the center of the room.

"What's-."

"Do not speak," He said quietly and without another word he placed his hand in the middle of his chest and the bridge dissolved into a shade of black and red.

When the traces of color had left, Phantom let go of her arm. It was dark and she could barely make out who was in front of her, but it didn't stop her from recognizing that they were in the room he had slept in the night before.

"DECA…" The lights dimmed, brightening the room around them, "Please leave us." And then the red light in the corner went out and they were alone. She still hadn't said anything, almost afraid to now. And when he lifted his hand toward her face her body stiffened in anticipation. He seemed to have sensed it and hesitated deciding instead to lay his hand on her shoulder again. It was almost like their common ground.

"Cassie…." She felt a chill go up through her arms at he way he said her name, "I… I do not know how to begin..." She was tense, finally understanding what was happening.

"Phantom-"

"Do not call me that…" He said firmly turning his head away from her. She kept silent as her heart pounded against her chest. When he decided to speak again he turned back and faced her. "Kaeth… My name is Kaeth. …Cassie, you must understand that what I am about to tell you must keep guarded safely, not just because of me, but because of you. Your life will be in constant danger from not just Dark Spector but from enemies that could possibly be worse." She blinked and furrowed her brows. "I'm a Power Ranger, I know the risks." He squeezed her shoulders.

"Yes, you are a ranger, but because of me and who I am, what I have done; if Dark Specter believes that you have any information about me he will hunt you down until he knows who I am." She nodded to let him know she understood. "I must stress how careful you need be, if you are to be captured then I will, by any means necessary, do what ever it is within my power to get you back, even if that means is for me to surrender." She drew in a breath about to speak, but he silenced her again. "This is my choice and you would do well to remember it." She almost protested again but then thought better of it. What could she do really? She had no control of what he decided to do if it were to happen.

"Cassie… It is possible that after this conversation it will change your opinion of me."

She shook her head wanting to prove him wrong. He didn't protest her stubbornness, but continued with what he was saying.

"Before I speak though, there is something that I wish to do." Cassie tilted her head. His hand then was back on his chest and all of a sudden a bright flash of red surrounded him. Shielding her eyes she waited until it passed and then a boy stood in front of her not much older than she was. He was wearing a long black tunic with cream-colored pants, and tall dark boots. His hair was long and shaggy, and she almost couldn't see his eyes because of his bangs covering them but they were impossible to miss. Bright green, a color so penetrating that they seemed to stare right through her. His muscled arms were white almost pale matching the skin on his face. When she looked down at his hands she noticed his ruby attached to a small golden chain, and she couldn't help her gasp of exclamation. When he realized her concern she saw him shake his head, "Do not worry, as long as I have possession of my ruby crystal I am safe and in no danger." Lifting it up he placed the necklace around his neck and then looked back down at her.

"Is… Is that what you wanted to show me?" She asked staring back at him. He tilted his head in response.

"…Not quite." Slowly lifting his hand he brushed her long dark hair away from her face until he rested it gently on her neck. His skin was warm against hers, and her pulse began to speed up as his other hand ended up on her waste. She took one step backwards and somehow she was pressed up against the wall. His green eyes being just as dominant as before, she couldn't mistake what was happening. When her eyelids fluttered closed she could feel his breath on her skin. He captured her mouth slowly, but passionately. It wasn't hesitant at all, and she had no doubt in her mind that he knew exactly what he was doing. He kissed her a second time as if she was so delicate.

She didn't know how but her hands ended up on his chest as she pressed closer and he kissed her again. The moment ended too soon when he slowly pulled away. His forehead pressed against hers, and the hand that had been on her neck was tracing the outer part of her right ear. He kissed her gently on the lips once more and then pulled away from her completely. Her body felt like it was on fire aching for more. But he continued walking to the other side of the room until he leaned against the bed. Her legs felt weak and she almost sat down until he started talking.

"I was a Ranger before a team could be formed on my planet. I had had much training before my first mission, but it wasn't enough to prepare the soldiers and I for what was going to happen. The mission itself should have been peaceful, but we had walked right into a minefield. The explosions killed everyone. I had been morphed at the time but the blast drained my energy for a time and I was left barely alive. Quade, leader of the defense division, and my best friend, had stayed behind that day to guide our efforts. When he hadn't heard anything from me he went out to look for us with a squadron. I was the only one he found alive."

"Many of the doctors that were there treating me didn't think I was going to survive the night. My power ruby is a morpher to me but the decision was made that it would be the only thing to save my life. With Zordon's help, he connected my power ruby to my life force so that I could survive, but it meant that I could not be separated from it. Which at times can be a grave weakness as you have witnessed."

"A few years after the incident and six years ago now, I became more experienced and grew to become respected from my people. My planet Siri at the time became a member of the United Coalition, so that we could have protection from the Defense League. The Intergalactic Council decided that there should be a new ranger team and I was to be its leader. Our home world had not seen any war but Dark Specter's forces were getting stronger. So Zordon formed a new team of Rangers. We were a group that was to be known throughout the galaxies, but because we were very young, it was important that the Intergalactic Council keep us hidden. I was the only one on the team at the time who had any experience in war. If Dark Specter were to find out that a new group of Rangers were forming he would not waste an instant in trying to destroy them. But it had turned out that our worst fears had come true and that Dark Specter did know of our team, only weeks after we had started training. We were not prepared, and I was the only one who even had possession of a Morpher."

"So Dark Specter destroyed you're team." She didn't question it but stated it as a fact. Phantom hesitated and it seemed that this next part was difficult for him to say, and she almost stopped him when the pause went on, but he continued.

"Yes… Dark Specter destroyed my team. And even though I was experienced then I was still very young. It was then that I had truly experienced love for the first time. Her name was Celestial." Cassie didn't know how she felt about that but tried to ignore her feelings and focus on what he was saying.

"So what happened?"

"It turned out that I hadn't know my teammates as well as I thought I did, and that the Council had not chosen as carefully as they had believed either. If we had tested the morphers on them we possibly could have known what was to happen, but we hadn't and I didn't know anything until I had been taken hostage. Celestial was the leader of the conspirators that betrayed my world. Somehow Dark Specter had gotten to each of the team members and when I managed to escape there wasn't enough time to be able to save my planet. Dark Specter had destroyed much. There was no hope of wining or gaining anything back from what had been lost."

"We had no defenses, I had been my world's only hope and I failed. While I was in custody my captors searched the planet for the morphers that were destined to be theirs, what Dark Specter did not anticipate though was the power of the morphers rejecting them; instantly knowing what was in their hearts."

He paused again, "I was lucky that I was able to escape with my life because Dark Specter had ordered for my destruction. Somehow I was able to get a hold of the morphers and I hid them, ruining his plans to have the Ranger Power. He will stop at nothing to get revenge on what was taken from him. Knowing that he would come after me, I went into hiding; joining volunteer groups from different systems around the galaxy. I didn't want anything to do with being a ranger at that point and I was afraid that my people would associate me with the betrayed. So I would go to whoever would take me, mostly groups that didn't require any identification or care who I was or what background I'd had. I left my name behind and remained anonymous for almost two years."

"Then one day I was assisting survivors from a recent fight for territory against one of Dark Specter's leaders. Among the wounded I somehow ended up finding, Quade. I was taken aback to find out that the people fighting for the land were refugees from my home world. I stayed with him and it was like we had never been apart. Quade was still heading the defense division of the Sirionian survivors. I wasn't surprised when he told me that he thought I had been dead for the past two years, and so I told him what had happened after the battle on Siri. He had wished that he could have been there for me after the struggle, but I knew that it had been my decision."

"What made you go back?" She asked after he had paused. He turned around to look at her and shrugged.

"They said that I was needed as a ranger, and that they could use my help. I agreed but only if I would be known and only known as a Power Ranger. Dark Specter was still hunting me and I knew that I wouldn't be able to help if I was constantly trying to fight him. I changed my uniform so that I wouldn't be recognized for who I once was. My new name came as the Spirit Ranger. I started by helping my own people that had survived by staying on Kavi, and then I began traveling throughout the Tonti System, and then the Kirassa Galaxy. I was called many things and wasn't known as just the Spirit Ranger anymore. The Lone Ranger, Ghost, or Phantom as you have called me, were well used throughout the Galaxy. I stretched out even further going into the Quadrant as a whole and becoming a legend in my own time. I have always managed to escape the inevitable with my life. Going on missions that give hope to the solders and people when I come. My name though has also put a target on myself. I have escaped many foes and Dark Specter one too many times for me not to be noticed, and I believe that he is working hard to try to find out who I am."

She stood there just staring at him unbelieving. One so young who had been through so much, and it made her wonder why she was the one special enough to have been trusted with this secret. He seemed to have mistaken her silence when she didn't answer.

"I am sorry… I hope I did not overwhelm you…" She shook her head still not saying anything, he seemed unsure from her response and at the same time had a guilty expression, but the fact was, was that she didn't know what to say. She could only think to do one thing. Slowly she walked towards him with her arms out. He embraced her when she came close holding her tight and it comforted her to feel him finally holding her.

"Cassie…" He sighed his chin resting on her head. "You have no idea how long I have waited to be with you."

NEW POV

When she knew that her best friend was all right, she didn't want to stay long. TJ was beside her talking with Carlos while Andros stood some distance behind them. After they had talked and exchanged reassurances she nudged TJ, hoping he would see what she was trying to convey. When he noticed Andros behind them TJ finally clasped Carlos' hand and ended their conversation. He muttered something about going to finish his breakfast and then turned to leave. Ashley followed him out but didn't go towards the lift as TJ had.

As she continued forward she thought about Carlos, not able to suppress her relief to know that he was finally recovering. For some reason it felt like it had been a while since they had last been able to talk and It made her realize the distance that seemed to be coming between them. She and Andros hadn't been together for that long but it just felt like Carlos and her conversations lately had been absent. She missed their normal exchange, but at the same time the only reason why she was feeling this way was because Andros wasn't around to be with her. Which she had to admit was probably true. Why didn't she feel bad about that?

It wasn't as if she was doing it on purpose, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense that it was probably bound to happen, even if it wasn't something that she wanted. Ashley knew though in her heart that Carlos would always be there for her, and she would always be there for him. They were a team, and they had something that no other friends on earth could have. They were rangers and it created a bond that extended beyond friendship. It almost made them family. They sacrificed their very lives for each other every time they morphed.

She kept on walking realizing that even though her life had become so complicated in the past few months she was still so lucky. She wondered how Phantom felt about having the Ranger Powers. His circumstances were quite different than hers. It seemed that the uniform for him was almost a lifeline. He can't survive without his power ruby, and it lead her to wonder if he had always had to rely on it. Where was he anyway? Somehow at the same time Cassie had conveniently disappeared as well; she hadn't even seen them come down with the others. It wasn't hard to guess though since Phantom had just announced his departure and Cassie didn't seem all too happy about it. She suspected that they would probably come down in their own time… Hmmm time…. What day was it?

"DECA, what's the date?"

"It is the 16th of August Year 1998." She stared at the AI in surprise. How could the summer have gone by so fast? When was the last time she had even gotten the chance to see her parents? She had been so caught up in their search for Zordon these past few weeks that she hadn't thought to contact them. Not to mention the boyfriend she had now. Ashley smiled at the thought; just thinking about him had that effect. She couldn't help it. Andros was something new and different in her life that she had never thought to experience. An alien boyfriend… She wasn't sure exactly how her parents were going to react. They had met him before of course, on the few occasions this summer that they had free time and had gone to her house to hang out. Maybe they already knew? Everyone on the team seemed to know after all.

Suddenly she felt a chill in the air and she crossed her arms unconsciously. She pulled away instantly when she agitated the wound on her arm. It throbbed painfully and she squeezed her eyes shut waiting for it to pass. Concentrating on something else she thought about maybe going to go visit her parents but then decided against it immediately. There were bound to be questions about what had happened to her if they saw her the way she was. And as far as she was concerned the less they knew the better off and safer they were. She almost envied Cassie for not having to tell her parents what happened in her life, but then again what did she tell the people who she was staying with down on Earth? They couldn't possibly know that she was a Ranger. The more she thought about it the more she realized that it was probably easier in her position than it would be to be in Cassie's. She wondered if TJ knew where she was staying.

Yawning she walked up through the Mega Ship until she reached her room. Pressing in her code the door opened and she walked in. She really could use a shower but it seemed like too much work. When she sat down on her bed she realized just how tired she was, it made sense since she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. But she really didn't feel like getting up and walking all the way down to the holding bay either. She lay down and closed her eyes and finally fell into a restless sleep.

NEW POV

When Carlos had started dozing he did nothing to prevent it. Instead he stayed in the infirmary, checking to make sure all his vitals were normal. He felt slightly better after talking with him and seeing for himself that he was going to be all right. "DECA? …Where's TJ?" He wanted to know sliding his hands across one of the screens in front of him.

"The Blue Ranger is currently on the bridge." He pressed a few more buttons and then did a few last things before finally telling DECA to dim the lights. He went directly to the lift, not saying anything to DECA when he stepped inside, he knew she would take him to where he wanted to go. As the doors opened again to let him off he saw TJ facing the computers with a data pad in his hand. The opening of the lift doors caught the boy's attention and TJ turned around and gave him a smile when he noticed who it was.

"Hey Andros, what's up?" He asked casually as he looked back down at his data pad. Andros found himself just shrugging.

"Carlos seems to be doing a lot better." He confirmed, leaning forward against one of the control consoles. TJ nodded out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm just glad he's alright." He said keeping his attention on the data pad in his hand, "I was getting worried there for a little while." Andros agreed and nodded in return.

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" There was a long silence that filled the room and all of a sudden he felt nervous. Taking the anxiety out of his mind he focused on what he was going to say, "Actually TJ…there is something I wanted to tell you." The boy beside him stopped what he was doing and when he turned to look at him he frowned.

"Is something wrong?" TJ asked seeming concerned, which he had every right to feel, since Andros never tried to start a conversation with him before.

"No everything's fine," He said shaking his head. "I just wanted to let you know that… you made the right decision yesterday… about going back to Earth." He knew he had hesitated, but it had been harder to come out with than he thought. "I know how hard that decision was for you to make since we weren't all together, but there was nothing you could have done for us. You did the right thing." He saw TJ look back down at his data pad and sigh, but Andros knew he wasn't ignoring him.

"You have to know that I never wanted to leave you behind." Andros nodded, reassured that TJ seemed willing and relieved to talk about what had happened.

"I do know. You work so hard to keep this team together. I can see that and I know you would do anything to protect it. I choose you to stay behind because I knew you could handle the responsibility of leadership that was needed. I've seen what you can do and I trust your judgment."

TJ nodded, smiled and reached out to clasp his hand. He took it without hesitating and another warm feeling went through him, but it wasn't the same feeling that he felt when he was around Ashley; it was different. He felt for the first time in a long time a bond of friendship forming with his team. It felt good to be apart of something, and when TJ had shook his hand the same way TJ had done with Carlos earlier, it made him feel like he belonged.

When their contact was broken he glanced down at TJ's data pad. "I'm up for some repair work could you use some help?" He offered. TJ's face brightened.

"Sure, maybe we can see if Ashley's up for it too? Hey DECA, where's Ashley?"

"Ashley is currently in her room sleeping. Would you like me to wake her?" He saw TJ look at him questioningly and without a second thought he shook his head and turned towards DECA.

"No, let her sleep, she needs it. We'll be fine on our own." TJ nodded, "Alright then, let's get to it."

NEW POV

As he stood there holding Cassie in his arms, his guilt continued to plague him. He hadn't told her everything, and he didn't know if she would be able to understand why he hadn't. The memory was too painful, that was the excuse he wanted to give himself, but he knew what his real fear was. Would she ever be able to accept him for what he had done to survive?

She was holding him tightly. Her arms making him feel secure amongst his conflicting emotions. He wished that they had more time. He wanted to know more about this girl that he knew would always be the center of his heart. And if it came to it he would do anything to protect her.

NEW POV

A light breeze passed through the humid desert pushing her light blue hair behind her shoulders. She gripped her wrath staff tightly in her right hand as Dark Specter towered before her, seeming none too happy of their recent predicament. With the Phantom Ranger free from the Barox, the Rangers had obviously found out about Zordon's weapon. In her mind it had been inevitable, bound to happen, and she had more than one plan up her sleeve that she hoped to prove useful.

"Astronema I am growing impatient with you failures. The rangers are getting too close to finding Zordon."

"My plan is underway Dark Specter. My spies are bringing back the Praying Mantis as we speak. I have a plan that will take care of everything. We just need to be patient. Don't worry Dark Spector no harm will befall our plan for Zordon's destruction. He is ours now."

"I hope for your sake that you are right."


End file.
